Dinos on Holiday

When one of your fiber besties (Jensen Reyes of Sugarplum Circus Yarns) comes to you with an idea for an *ugly* holiday sweater with dinosaurs, AND your kiddos have been asking you for dino sweaters, well, you design and knit them what they want! Ever since I first started knitting color work I had wanted to write a pattern that was a sort of “Fair Isle Free Style”, a choose your own adventure of sorts, but with knitting and color work charts, and it was so fun to finally do it! This pattern is GREAT for stash busting, and letting your creative knitting juices flow! With a multitude of sizes for both children and adults, top-down design (very customizable body and sleeve lengths) and optional waist and sleeve shaping, you can create the color work sweater of your dreams (and it could even have DINOSAURS!!) With over 5o color work charts to choose from, planning and knitting this sweater is SO MUCH FUN and you can truly make it your own!

Yarn

Sugarplum Circus Merino Sport 323 yards/ 100g Or any Sport weight yarn

*NOTE: These are yardage estimates….this is a great stash busting sweater for using up some scraps from other projects! You may want to consider the TOTAL YARDAGE when choosing yarn for this pattern, and note that you can use as many colors as you want! If you decide to work more color work on the body/sleeves you will need more of your CC (s) and less of your MC, so keep that in mind when looking at total yardages!

Child:

MC= (350, 450, 500) (600, 700, 800) yards

CC= (150, 200, 250) (300, 350, 400) 450 yards

Adult:

MC= 980 (1080, 1180, 1230) (1330, 1380, 1480) (1580, 1680, 1830) (1880, 1930, 2030) 2130 yards

CC= 470 (520, 570, 620) (670, 680, 720) (720, 770, 780) (780, 780, 800) 820 yards

Materials

US Size 4 ( 3.5 mm) circular needles.

US Size 6 (4.0 mm) circular needles.

*I suggest a minimum cord length of 8 or 16”, and maximum cord length of 20-40” depending on which size you are knitting.

*Or sizes needed to obtain gauge.

Gauge

21 stitches x 28 rounds = 4 x 4” / 10 x 10 cm in stockinette stitch in the round with larger needles, after blocking.

Finished Measurements

Child: Sizes (0, 1, 2) (3, 4, 5) roughly (0-12 months, 1-2 years, 2-4) (4-6 years, 6-8 years, 8-10 years) *NOTE: All kids are different so I strongly suggest choosing the size based on the desired body circumference instead of the age! *To be worn with 0-4” positive ease

Bust/Body Circumference: (18.3, 20.5, 22.8) (25, 27.4, 29.7)”/ (46.5, 52, 58) (63.5, 69.6, 75.4) cm

Height to underarm: (6, 7, 8) (9, 10, 11)”/ (15.2, 17.8, 20.32) (22.9, 25.4, 28) cm

Upper Arm Circumference: (6.5, 6.9, 8) (8.4, 9.5, 10.3) ” / (16.5, 17.5, 20.3) (21.4, 24, 26.2) cm

Length of sleeve from underarm: (5, 6, 7) (9, 11, 13)”/ (12.7, 15.2, 17.8) (22.9, 28, 33) cm

Yoke Depth: (4.5, 5.25, 5.5) (6.25, 6.5, 6.5)”/ (11.4, 13.3, 14) (15.9, 16.5, 16.5) cm

Adult: Sizes 1 (2, 3, 4) (5, 6, 7) (8, 9, 10) (11, 12, 13) 14

*To be worn with -2 to +8” ease

Bust/ Body Circumference: 32 (34.3, 36.6, 38.9) (41, 43.5, 45.7) (50.3, 52.6, 54.9) (57, 59.4, 62) 64” / 81.3 (87, 93, 98.8) (104, 110.5, 116) (127.8, 133.6, 140) (145, 151, 157.5) 162.6 cm

Height to Underarm: 13 (13, 14, 14) (15, 15.5, 16) (16.5, 17, 17) (18, 18, 19) 19” / 33 (33, 35.6, 35.6) (38, 39.4, 40.6) (42, 43.2, 43.2) (45.7, 45.7, 48.3) 48.3 cm

Upper Arm Circumference: 11.4 (11.8, 12.2, 13) (13.7, 14.9, 15.6) (16.4, 17.5, 19.8) (20.6, 20.6, 21.3) 22”/ 29 (30, 31, 33) (35, 38, 39.7) (41.7, 44.5, 50.3) (52.4, 52.4, 54) 55.9 cm

Length of sleeve from underarm: 14 (14, 16, 16) (17, 17, 17) (18, 18, 18) (18, 19, 19) 19”/ 35.6 (35.6, 40.6, 40.6) (43.2, 43.2, 43.2) (45.7, 45.7, 45.7) (45.7, 48.3, 48.3) 48.3 cm

Yoke Depth: 7.5 (8, 8.5, 8.75) (9, 9.5, 9.75) (10, 10.75, 12) (12.75, 13, 13) 14”/ 19 (20.3, 21.6, 22.2) (22.9, 24, 24.8) (25.4, 27.3, 30.5) (32.4, 33, 33) 35.6 cm

Notes

These sweaters are knit in the round from the top down. This pattern is designed to let YOU be the designer, by choosing your motifs and placement, a blueprint if you will for your very own fun holiday sweater (perhaps with some dinosaurs on it!) The Dinosaur charts are all 24 stitch repeats, so you should be able to insert them into the yoke of any size you are knitting. Be mindful of your placement of the dinos, as you will want to insert the dino chart in your yoke at a time when the number of rounds meant to be worked for your size matches closely to the chart.