Roma Lucia Sweater

Roma Lucia Sweater by Jo Sharp

What is Being Made

The Roma Lucia Sweater is a feather-light, loveable children's mohair sweater designed by Jo Sharp. This garment features shaped and fitted sleeves at the cap, creating a hugging silhouette that is ideal for young wearers. The sweater includes a ribbed neckband for a finished, comfortable neckline. The design is available in multiple sizes (A, B, C, and D) to accommodate different measurements.

Techniques Used

This sweater employs fundamental knitting techniques suitable for beginner-level crafters. The construction begins with ribbed cuffs and waistbands, which provide elasticity and structure. The main body and sleeves are worked in Stocking Stitch, a foundational knitting stitch that creates a smooth, classic fabric surface. The design incorporates a repeating stripe pattern throughout the sleeves, adding visual interest while maintaining technical simplicity. Sleeve shaping is achieved through strategic decreases at the cap, which are distributed evenly to create a fitted armhole. The neckband is also worked in rib stitch, ensuring a neat and stretchy finish at the neck opening.

Stitches Used

• Knit and Purl Rib (K1, P1): Used for the cuffs, waistband, and neckband to create elastic, textured edges
• Stocking Stitch (St st): The primary stitch for the body and sleeves, creating a smooth, professional appearance
• Decreases: Even decreases across rows to shape the sleeve caps and adjust stitch counts

Materials

The Roma Lucia Sweater is crafted from Rare Comfort Kid Mohair, a luxuriously soft yarn in a 3-ply weight. This yarn choice contributes to the sweater's feather-light quality, making it ideal for children's wear. The pattern requires two different needle sizes: 7.00mm needles are used for ribbed sections (cuffs, waistband, and neckband), while 8.00mm needles are used for the main body and sleeves worked in Stocking Stitch. The use of larger needles for the stockinette sections creates a more open, airy fabric that showcases the delicate nature of the mohair yarn.

Pattern Details

The back panel is cast on with 72(80,88,96) stitches depending on size, and 7cm of ribbing is worked before transitioning to Stocking Stitch. Stitches are decreased in the final ribbing row to establish the working stitch count of 52(58,64,68) stitches for the body. The sleeves begin with 30(30,34,34) stitches and feature a 12-row stripe pattern that repeats throughout. The stripe pattern alternates between two colors across rows 1–12, with rows 1–8 in Color 1 and rows 9–12 in Color 2. Sleeves are decreased evenly across a row to 22(22,26,26) stitches at the cap, then continued without further shaping until the desired sleeve length is reached, typically 9.5(9.5,10.5,10.5) cm including the cuff.