Longwing Sweater in Valley Yarns Southwick - 1084 - Downloadable PDF

Longwing Sweater in Valley Yarns Southwick – Pattern #1084 by Susan Baron

The Longwing Sweater (Pattern #1084), designed by Susan Baron and published by Valley Yarns, is a figure-skimming, two-sided pullover top that offers remarkable versatility for three-season wear. The defining feature of this design is its bold two-color construction: one entire side of the finished garment — both front and back — is worked in Color A (Classic Navy), while the opposite side is worked in Color B (Winter Lake), creating a striking visual split that pairs effortlessly with everything from casual denim to dress trousers or a skirt. A stranded colorwork panel runs along the center front, elegantly tying the two halves together and adding an artisan focal point to an otherwise clean, contemporary silhouette.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a set-in sleeve pullover top with three-quarter length sleeves, available in eight sizes ranging from XS through 4XL, with finished bust measurements spanning 32½ inches to 63 inches. The garment is designed to be worn with 1 to 2 inches of positive ease, giving it a comfortable, flattering fit rather than an oversized or body-hugging silhouette. The sample shown in the pattern is knitted in Size S. Reverse stockinette stitch edging frames the hem, cuffs, and neckline, providing a subtle, rolled-edge finish that complements the smooth stockinette body.

Construction and Techniques

This is an advanced-level, seamed knitting project worked entirely flat in separate pieces that are later assembled. The construction method is traditional and structured, making it well suited to knitters who are comfortable with garment shaping, seaming, and managing two colors simultaneously.

• Seamed construction: The front, back, and two sleeves are knitted as individual flat pieces and then sewn together. This approach gives the finished garment excellent structure and durability, and allows for precise shaping at the set-in sleeve head.
• Worked flat: All pieces are worked back and forth in rows rather than in the round, which is typical for seamed garment construction and makes managing the two-color split straightforward.
• Stranded colorwork: The center front panel features a stranded colorwork motif worked using both Color A and Color B simultaneously. In stranded knitting, the yarn not currently in use is carried loosely across the back of the work, creating floats. This technique requires attention to tension to keep the fabric smooth and even.
• Two-color split body: The front is cast on using the Long-Tail Cast-On method, with Color A and Color B each used to cast on half the total stitches simultaneously. This establishes the two-color division from the very first row. The back is similarly divided between the two colors, but without a center colorwork motif.
• Set-in sleeves: Each three-quarter sleeve is worked separately in a single color — one sleeve in Color A and one in Color B — and then set into the corresponding side of the garment, maintaining the two-sided color story all the way through the sleeves.
• Reverse stockinette edging: The hem, cuffs, and neckline are finished with reverse stockinette stitch, which naturally rolls to the right side and creates a clean, casual border without the need for ribbing or a separate edging technique.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch — the primary stitch pattern used throughout the body and sleeves, creating a smooth, flat fabric surface ideal for showcasing the two-color design and the colorwork panel.
• Reverse stockinette stitch — used at the hem, cuffs, and neckline as a decorative edging detail.
• Stranded colorwork stitches — worked in the center front panel, requiring the knitter to alternate between Color A and Color B within individual rows while managing yarn floats on the wrong side.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern is written specifically for Valley Yarns Southwick, a worsted weight yarn with a unique fiber blend of 52% Pima Cotton and 48% Bamboo, sold in 50-gram skeins of approximately 92 yards each.