Elwood in MODE at Rowan Alpaca Cotton - Downloadable PDF

Elwood in MODE at Rowan Alpaca Cotton

What Is Being Made

Elwood is a knitted top designed by Quail Studio, available in nine sizes ranging from 28-30 inches to 60-62 inches chest measurement. This intermediate-level knitting project creates a finished garment with actual chest measurements from 32 inches to 63½ inches, offering a comfortable fit across a wide range of body sizes.

Knitting Techniques

This pattern employs fair isle colorwork as its primary decorative technique, a traditional method of knitting with two colors in a single row to create intricate patterned designs. The garment is constructed using seamless or minimal-seam construction, with the back and front pieces worked separately and the neck finished with a separate finishing row. The pattern includes shaping techniques such as strategic decreases at the neck opening to create a properly fitted neckline, with instructions to work each side of the neck separately for precise shaping control.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (K) – the fundamental stitch forming the base fabric
• Purl stitch (P) – used in combination with knit stitches, particularly in ribbed edgings
• Ribbing (K2, P2 repeat) – creates elastic, fitted edges at the cast-on and provides structure
• Fair isle stitch in stockinette stitch – the primary fabric structure combining two colors in a single row to create the pattern
• Decreases – used for neck shaping and garment contouring

Materials

This pattern uses Rowan Alpaca Cotton yarn in DK weight (light worsted), a blend of alpaca and cotton fibers that provides softness and breathability. Two colors are required: Snowflake (014) as the main color, requiring 5 to 8 balls depending on size, and Sierra Melange (016) as the contrast color for the fair isle pattern, requiring 1 to 4 balls. The pattern calls for 3.75mm (US 5) needles for the ribbed edgings and 4mm (US 6) needles for the main fabric. Additional notions include stitch holders and stitch markers for managing stitches and tracking pattern repeats. The recommended tension is 28 stitches and 28 rows over 10 centimeters in fair isle stockinette stitch, measured after blocking to ensure accurate finished measurements.