Chokecherry Days

This pattern was named through one of the naming contests I occasionally run. The sweater's color and leaf border reminded the knitter of her childhood, and waiting for the chokecherries to ripen. Brilliant red in summer, chokecherries darken to nearly black by harvest time, when their sweetness is at its peak. The lacy leaves and red color of this sweater evoke blissful days of summer, wiling away the time, waiting for the fruit to ripen to perfection before making autumn’s jams and syrups.

Basic stitches are set off with a parade of leaves all around. Sweater is knit in one piece from hem to armholes. Neckline is added after the shoulders have been seamed. Three-quarter length sleeves can be worked flat from the hem up, or in the round from the shoulder down—both options are included.

• Yarn: fingering weight; 750, 800, 850, 875 [925, 975, 1000, 1050] yards.
• Model: Baah Yarn La Jolla in Burmese Ruby, finished size 41.75 inches, sleeves worked cuff up; 400 yards in 100 grams; 100% superwash merino.
• Gauge: 20 sts and 25 rows to 4 inches in stockinette stitch, blocked.
• Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm).
• Finished size: 35.75, 37.75, 39.75, 41.75 [43.75, 45.75, 47.75, 49.75] inches.
• To fit bust: up to 2 inches smaller than finished sweater.
• Stitch instructions: Charted only.