Giano is a soft, luminous alpaca sweater named after Janus, the Roman god with two faces: it can be worn on either side. One side shows smooth stockinette, the other reverse stockinette. The ribbing at the neck, raglan lines, sides and cuffs looks the same on both faces, and the tubular edges have no wrong side.

The sweater is worked seamlessly from the top down: a high ribbed neck with a tubular cast-on, 18 German short rows to raise the back, a raglan yoke defined by four ribbed bands, then body and sleeves in the round. The side rib panels run from the underarms down to the hem, where front and back are finished separately to create side slits. Cuffs and hem are closed with a tubular bind-off.

It is a good project for knitters who are comfortable with top-down raglans and want to try short rows and tubular finishes.

Sizes
S (M, L, XL)
Finished chest: 92 (102, 112, 123) cm / 36¼ (40¼, 44, 48½)“
Recommended ease: 10–15 cm (4–6”) of positive ease. Sample shown in size M.

Yarn
Worsted-weight alpaca or alpaca blend, approx. 100 m / 109 yd per 50 g.
6 (7, 8, 9) balls of 50 g, approx. 560 (640, 720, 800) m / 615 (700, 790, 875) yd.
Sample knitted in an alpaca yarn with a lurex nub thread by Filati Studio Italia (size M, 320 g).

Needles

• 3.5 mm (US 4) circular needle, 40 cm (16”) cable, for the neck
• 4 mm (US 6) circular needles, 40 cm (16”) and 80 cm (32”) cables, for yoke and body
• 4 mm (US 6) needles for the sleeves: short circular, magic loop or DPNs

Gauge
19 sts and 30 rows = 10 cm (4”) in stockinette stitch on 4 mm needles, after washing and blocking.

Notions
9 stitch markers, 16 removable markers (ideally numbered), waste yarn, tapestry needle.

Techniques
Tubular cast-on, German short rows, raglan increases, picking up stitches, tubular bind-off. All special techniques are explained in the pattern.

The pattern includes

• Written instructions for 4 sizes
• Schematic with finished measurements in cm and inches
• Two charts for the short rows
• Photos of both sides of the sweater
• Tips for customising body length, sleeve length and yoke depth

The pattern is written in English. 9 pages. Also available in Italian