A kimono-inspired jacket worked in Fair Isle-style stranded colorwork with duplicate stitch accents and wide contrasting borders.

Charts and instructions for 3 different sleeve lengths -bracelet, 3/4ths (shown) and short - are provided in the pattern. You can further refine your sleeve length by including or omitting the solid-colored stripes at the sleeve tops. All sleeve lengths are independent of the 3 chest sizes, so you can really customize your jacket’s size to fit your own preferences.

Working the duplicate stitch embroidery on the large motifs, on the back and at the sleeve tops, is optional. The embroidery on the original was done with doubled strands of the same yarn used elsewhere in the sweater, but you could use all sorts of different yarns, and different embroidery stitches, to get interesting effects. However, Rosalia looks nice done in just the 2 main colors, too.

The Dale yarn originally used for this design has been discontinued in North America. Several excellent substitutes have been listed above. Use whatever sport weight yarn gives you the correct gauge.

Read the designer’s blog post for Rosalia here: http://twostrands.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/rosalia/