TILT: a super cozy & quick intarsia pullover

This sweater is a celebration of simplicity — from the top-down European drop shoulder construction to the diagonal color-blocked intarsia across the body, this quick and easy knit makes the coziest wardrobe staple in your favorite bulky weight yarn. The pattern includes instructions for 9 sizes, and both charted and written instructions for the intarsia. 

And yes, this would make a great first intarsia project! If this is a new-to-you technique, I have blog post round-up of all my favorite intarsia resources that you might find helpful.

Sizing & yarn requirements

As per usual, I've created a free PDF with all the sizing and yardage information that you can download here:

One of the most important things about sizing that we learned in the test knit is that the thickness of the fabric created from bulky weight yarn makes any amount of ease feel like less ease than you might think — e.g. 6"/15cm of positive ease will result in what feels like a relatively fitted garment.

Also worth noting — because the gauge is 12 sts over 4"/10cm, which is THREE stitches per INCH, even small shifts in gauge have the potential to really change the fit of your finished piece. If your gauge is off by as much as half a stitch (say, 12.5 sts/4"), the finished circumference of your sweater could be 3"/7.5" different than you expected.

Given all these details, if you are between sizes for this particular design, I recommend sizing up!

Yarn spotlight: White Gum Wool Bulky Bouclé

I collaborated with White Gum Wool for this design, which features their bulky weight bouclé. I love this yarn and this company, which is deeply committed to transparency and sustainability in the way they care for their sheep. And the yarn is quite literally the most scrumptious merino I have ever felt! The bulky bouclé amplifies the gorgeous, velvety feel of this wool, while also adding beautiful visual texture that softens the look of individual stitches and makes the yarn especially suitable for intarsia.

I am so grateful to Black Squirrel, my local yarn shop in Berkeley, California, for supporting me through this design! They have plenty of White Gum Wool Bouclé in stock, as well as The Wandering Flock Fluff, which is the yarn test knitter Bess used.

TEST KNITTING ROUND-UP

Gena (she/her)

Size: 2
Ease at the chest: -2”
Ease at the bicep: +3.5”
Modifications: "I shortened the length of the body knitting only 37 rows before the ribbing. I picked up 50 stitches for the arms and decreased every 20 rounds as I prefer a looser arm."

Follow Gena on Instagram: @ravenandrosewood
View Gena's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Bess (she/her)

Size: 3
Ease at the chest: +2”
Ease at the bicep: +4”
Modifications: knit larger size for tighter gauge for smaller weight yarn (16 sts/4"), went up one size for sleeves, twisted rib for hem and cuffs with italian tubular bine off, went down 2 needle sizes (to size 5) for final 3 rows of neck

Follow Bess on Instagram: @theoppositeofcool
View Bess’s project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Bailey (she/her)

Size: 3
Ease at the chest: +2"
Ease at the bicep: +2"
Modifications: single folded rib collar

Follow Bailey on Instagram: @bbell.crafts
View Bailey's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Ellie (she/her)

Size: 3
Ease at the chest: +6"
Ease at the bicep: +3"
Modifications: "Made sleeves 20in long total, used tubular bind off for sleeves and did not size down for ribbing, body total was 27in for a more cropped fit and sized up to US 10 for body hem bind off for do to tightness."

Follow Ellie on Instagram: @efife15
View Ellie's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Gretchen (she/her)

Size: 3
Ease at the chest: +2"
Ease at the bicep: +3"
Modifications: "I added an extra stitch to the under arm on the back panel and picked up 52 stitches instead of 48 at the arms to accommodate my arm size, and decreased to 32 st instead of 24 on each sleeve. I did not fold the collar but instead bound off after the last ccd."

Follow Gretchen on Instagram: @gretchengmakes
View Gretchen's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Sophie (she/her)

Size: 3
Ease at the chest: 0
Ease at the bicep: +2"
Modifications: went up one size for sleeves

Follow Sophie on Instagram: @sophknitsalot
View Sophie's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Emily (they/them)

Size: 4
Ease at the chest: +8"
Ease at the bicep: +6"
Modifications: "Added a split hem, cast on 70 sts for the sleeves and decreased down to 38"

Follow Emily on Instagram: @whats_knit_to_ya
View Emily's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Emily (she/her)

Size: 5
Ease at the chest: +7"
Ease at the bicep: +6"
Modifications: "I only did 40 body rows before ribbing instead of 50. I did only 6 of the decreases out of 8 in the second decrease sequence on the sleeves. Also added thumb holes in the row before my ribbing on sleeves. "

Follow Emily on Instagram: @monkeylovesgreenies
View Emily's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Kelly (she/her)

Size: 6
Ease at the chest: 0"
Ease at the bicep: +2"
Modifications: "I added about 3 inches of length (and wished I would have added a bit more because my torso is long!)"

Follow Kelly on Instagram: @theliberalknitter
View Kelly's project page on Ravelry: Click here!

Jaq (they/them)

Size: 8
Ease at the chest: +10"
Ease at the bicep: +2"
Modifications: none