Advent time is knitting with color time — whether you want to use a yarn advent calendar or dive into your scraps and leftovers from the past year. In Amaryllis, all the colors are framed by black-and-white checks, allowing the entire piece to shine against a calm, solid background.

The inspiration for this year’s Advent sweater comes from something not Christmas-related at all. It actually came from snorkeling trips in the Maldives, where the beautiful fish wear the most wonderful colors, accented with black and white.

The pattern is written for fingering weight yarn, and in addition to your advent calendar or collection of scraps, you’ll need a main color and small amounts of black and white yarn for the checkered borders.

The sweater is worked top-down, with a circular yoke and ribbed edges at the neck, body, and sleeves, and is completely seamless. The pattern also includes instructions for an alternative neckline with welts and a rolled edge (see Appendix at the back of the pattern).
 
Sizes
1–2 (3–4–5) 6–7–8 (9)

Finished bust circumference
85–95 (100–110–120) 125–135–140 (150) cm /
33.5–37.4 (39.37–43.31–47.25) 49.25–53.15–55.12 (59.06) in

Length
56–56 (58–58–58) 60–60–60 (62) cm /
22.05–22.05 (22.83–22.83–22.83) 23.62–23.62–23.62 (24.41) in

Fit
Amaryllis is designed to be worn with 5–20 cm (2–8 in) of positive ease, depending on your personal preference. Measure your bust, add 5–20 cm (2–8 in), and choose the size that comes closest to the result.

You can easily adjust the length of the body or sleeves, but please note that it will affect the yardage requirements.

Yardage
Main Color (MC): approx.
650–725 (800–875–950) 1025–1100–1180 (1250) m /
710–790 (875–955–1040) 1120–1200–1290 (1370) yds of fingering weight yarn

Contrast Colors (CCs): an advent calendar with 24 mini skeins or approx. 1000–1800 m / 1090–1970 yds of fingering weight yarn.

Additionally: about 60 m (65 yds) each of fingering-weight black and white yarn.
Yardage is estimated and may vary between knitters!

I suggest starting with either a full fingering-weight advent calendar or an equivalent amount of leftover yarn. Each of the 24 colors is typically used for one stripe on either the body or sleeves. Two of them are only used for sleeve bind-offs, so only a tiny amount is needed for those. If working from leftovers instead of 20 g mini skeins, you can repeat colors, make the sleeves match, or play with color placement. The most important thing is to enjoy the process!

Depending on your gauge and the actual yardage of your yarn, you may find that in larger sizes, some yoke stripes require more than 20 g. In that case, I recommend introducing an additional stripe color.

I used Rauma Finull from Cosy Mind: https://cosymind.dk/shop/122-rauma-garn/2182-rauma-finull/.

My main color is 0411, and I the following contrast colors:
4115 – 0453 – 4048 – 0430 – 4106 – 0456 – 4705 – 4069, plus black (0436) and white (0401).

Gauge
24 sts × 31 rnds in stockinette stitch on larger needles = 10 × 10 cm / 4 × 4 in.
Please note: Maintaining gauge is essential to achieve the correct fit. Adjust needle size as necessary.
Suggested needles
2.75 mm (US 2) circular needle, 80 cm / 31.5 in for ribbing (use magic loop as needed)
3.25 mm (US 3) circular needle, 80 cm / 31.5 in for body and sleeves (use magic loop as needed)

Note: Needle size is only a suggestion. Adjust as needed to achieve correct gauge. Pay attention to your tension when working flat (in the short row sections): many knitters tend to work their purls looser than their knits and may need to go down a half or full needle size on the purl side.

Conversely, colorwork or small circumferences (e.g. sleeves) can tighten your tension—if so, go up half or a full needle size for these sections.