Café au Lait is a tribute to the spectacular Café au Lait dahlia. I grew this gorgeous variety in my garden for the first time last year and couldn’t resist taking inspiration from them for this design. The yoke blends a hybrid saddle shoulder with a circular yoke construction, offering a great fit at the shoulders while disguising increases within the stranded colorwork pattern.

CONSTRUCTION
This garment is worked top-down, mostly in the round. Stitches for the back, shoulders and front are cast on and shaped with increases, creating a saddle shoulder construction. Once complete, the majority of the yoke is worked in stranded colourwork, with circular yoke increases incorporated into the colourwork design. Once yoke depth is reached, stitches are divided for body and sleeves, each of which are worked in stockinette. Before the waistband and cuffs, a small band of additional colourwork is worked. Stitches are picked up around the neckhole to form the neckband.

SIZING GUIDE
This garment is graded into sizes 1 (2, 3, 4, 5) (6, 7, 8, 9, 10). Recommended positive ease is 4+” / 10+ cm at the chest circumference.

Finished Garment Chest Circumference:
36 (40, 44, 48, 52) (56, 60, 64, 68, 72)“
90 (100, 110, 120, 130) (140, 150, 160, 170, 180) cm

SAMPLE
The wearer is 5’10” / 178 cm with a 37” / 92.5 cm chest circumference. The sample has been worked in size 4, giving the wearer 11” / 27.5 cm of positive ease at the chest. To accommodate the height of the wearer, an extra 0.5” / 1.5 cm of depth has been added to the yoke, and an extra 2” / 5 cm of length has been added to the body and sleeve length. Upper sleeve circumference has been worked as for size 3.

GAUGE
Using 3.5 mm / US size 4 needles, or needle size required to meet gauge, 24 stitches over 28 rounds in both stockinette stitch and colourwork, wet blocked, creates a 4x4” / 10x10 cm square.
Neckband, waistband and cuff circumferences assume you are working 7 sts per 1” / 2.5 cm.

YARN
The sample has been worked using Botanical Yarn’s Non-Superwash Organic Sport base (300 m / 328 yds per 100 g) with colourway Hellebore Pink Promise for the Main Colour and Ranunculus Chamallow for the Contrast Colour.

YARDAGE (includes ~10% excess)

Main Colour:
778 (841, 913, 979, 1068) (1144, 1225, 1283, 1346, 1384) metres
851 (920, 999, 1070, 1169) (1251, 1340, 1403, 1472, 1514) yards
259 (280, 304, 326, 356) (381, 408, 428, 449, 461) grams

Contrast Colour:
188 (190, 194, 213, 217) (221, 223, 242, 246, 248) metres
206 (208, 212, 233, 237) (240, 244, 265, 269, 272) yards
63 (63, 65, 71, 72) (74, 74, 81, 82, 83) grams

TOOLS & NOTIONS
2.75 mm / US size 2 circular needles (to work neckband, cuffs and waistband; varying cable lengths would be helpful)
3.5 mm / US size 4 circular needles (to work yoke, body and sleeves; varying cable lengths would be helpful)
5 removable markers
scrap yarn
tapestry needle to weave in ends

SKILLS REQUIRED
-long tail cast on
-working flat
-working make one increases
-joining and working in the round
-working left and right lifted increases
-reading colourwork charts
-working stranded colourwork with two (or more) colours
-cable cast on
-working a repeating pattern of decreases
-decreasing using K2tog and SSK
-standard bind off