It's September and that means: Time to stack up your woolly wardrobe! Take your knitting needles and start making your new favorite sweaters for the colder days. Since I fell in love with brioche knitting (this one over here was my first brioche sweater project), I wanted to try another, this time very simple, minimalistic brioche sweater. Knitted in the round and from top to bottom (because I'm a bit lazy when it comes to sewing up my knitwear, ehem…). That was the idea and what you see here in the photos is the result. I'm super happy with it, and I'm even happier to announce that the pattern is now available in my Etsy store. I hope you enjoy knitting it as much as I did.

A very BIG THANK YOU to my lovely test knitters, and especially to Lorraine of Rain and Bolt. Not only did she knit two sweaters after my pattern in basically no time (WOW! Really, such a speedy and amazing knitter, I'm jealous! Also, you should follow her on Instagram!). She also came up with detailed instructions for everyone who prefers English style knitting. 

Alright, let's face it: It's gonna take some more weeks until Springtime. The sun isn't seen very often right now. And yet, we are all craving for some warm rays of sunshine, blue sky, less freezing and more natural Vitamin D. My in-between-solution: Handmade knitwear in Springtime colors! Because wearing something colorful and happy makes me feel like Spring is just around the corner. Plus, a warm and chunky piece of knitwear always keeps you warm. Goodbye freezing! No more feeling too cold with this sweater, I promise. And the best thing about it (apart from not being cold anymore): It's super easy and really fast to knit! This sweater is knitted in the round top down, which means that you only have one piece and don't need to sew up four pieces in the end. It's just sewing up loose ends of the color changes – and that's it! 

It have to admit that this was my very first top down sweater I've ever made and it was soooooo much fun! Definitely not the last one (because I really don't like this part when you have to bring everything together. Knitting only one piece is SO much easier and more comfortable)! If you are not convinced yet, have a look at the following pictures. Maybe you feel like knitting your top-down raglan sweater, as well… :) 

Rediscovering things I thought I had lost or I just didn't think about for quite a while is something I really like. And even though it's not really hard for me to let go of things, I'm a hoarder when it comes to notebooks, sketchbooks, bullet journals or even old calendars. (And wool, of course, but that's another story…) A couple of days ago, I found an old notebook and rediscovered the "pattern" notes (aka some bullet points, haha) for this chunky cardigan on some of the pages. I remembered it being pretty simple to make and thought, why not turn it into a real pattern? Even better: a new free pattern to celebrate the new year. A very late new year's goodie, but hey, it's still a free pattern, right? :) 

In my notebook, the cardigan was just called "cardigan", now I gave it a name – and here comes #1 – haha, very creative! So, if you feel like knitting your own chunky cardigan, you'll find my free cardigan pattern at the end of this blog post. Before you go ahead and download the instructions, here's a list of everything you need and some pictures, of course. Have fun knitting your own cardigan and let me know how it works, which colors you chose etc. I'm curious!!

Et voilà! Here we go– I finally finished the English version of the knitting pattern for my open back Sweater and I hope you like the sweater as much as I do! It's quite revealing on the back side and really classic on the front. I'm a huuuge fan of cloths with interesting back details and always wanted a sweater like this. So when I never actually found one like this, I finally created my own pattern. Although I've made knitting patterns before (remember the rainbow sweater for example?), this is the first time I prepared my knitting pattern as a real PDF version for download and I put a lot of love in the pattern. Hope you feel it ;) And I hope you forgive me if it's not translated perfectly. If there is anything I can improve, please feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line– I'm super happy and thankful to hear all your thoughts and if you let me know if something got lost in translation or only made sense inside my head :) 

Oh, and I have some more news for you: The pages of my pattern notebook are filled with knitwear design ideas and I will put a lot of effort in realizing these and hopefully creating more knitting patterns for you very soon! (I haven't figured how to establish the 56-hours-day or grow eight more arms and hands that could work on different projects at the same time, though…) So, in the future I'm going to sell some of these patterns here in my future online store and also on Etsy etc. There are plenty of DIY and knitting projects that are still and will remain free patterns – only the more elaborate projects that take a lot of time preparing and polishing will be offered for sale. But no worries: For now, the pattern is available for free until the online store officially opens – so get your pattern while it' still hot and free! I hope you enjoy making your own version. And as I mentioned before: I'd be super happy to hear all your thoughts and feedback! 

Actually, if I'm not wearing my Rainbow Sweater, I LOOOVE wearing all shades of gray, black, navy, burgundy… yep, you get an idea. Rather simple than bright and colorful. A popular exception: Beanies, scarves and headbands. This "Tricolori" beanie is one of these colorful examples. Blue, salmon and yellow in one single piece of garment. Well, accessory. The color combination reminds me a bit of the colorful 70s, it's a bit quirky, but not too much. Could look nice with ski onesie, though :) And here comes the best: It's a super easy and quick knitting project aaand I've got the free tutorial for you. 

Maybe – ok, definitely not maybe – I mentioned it before: I'm a wool addict. And a wool hoarder. I have drawers full of wool – all kinds of wool in every storage space I have. In my wardrobe, in the living room sideboard, in the drawers under my bed. Most of the yarn balls are there for a certain purpose: I already have something in mind for them and know for which project I'm going to use them. But for some of them it's a bit different. They are leftovers of already finished knitting projects,  or I only bought them because they were so pretty. So, what is supposed to happen to them, especially the leftovers? Throwing them away? No way (as I already mentioned, I'm a wool hoarder and hoarders don't throw stuff away, do they?!)! Using them for smaller projects? Well, most of the small projects require more than a tiny piece of leftover, too. 

Fortunately, there ARE plenty of ideas how to make use of leftovers. They can be turned into blankets, colorful beanies, pillow covers and scarves. For my recent leftover project, I decided I could use another loop scarf. Said, done, here it is: A leftover scarf, knit in fluffy fisherman's rib stitch. Yum! 

I'm still totally blown away by all the lovely comments I got on Instagram (and in real life) for this sweater. This rainbow sweater that actually looks like it was made for one of the Care Bears. Or a unicorn. Anyway, it's really comfortable and cozy and makes your day a bit brighter and definitely more colorful. I can only recommend making one for yourself: Everybody starts to smile when they see this sweater – because who can say no to a rainbow?! I certainly can’t.

Oh and just one quick note: As this is my very first knitting pattern, I’d be more than happy to hear if it works for you guys or if there’s something I could improve. I am looking forward to all your feedback, suggestions and comments! 

Read on for the English instructions. If you're looking for the German version of the rainbow sweater pattern, click here.