I love looking to history and heritage for inspiration. This pattern is inspired by extant ceramics and hanfu (clothing) from the Ming Dynasty, taking cues from the floral scrolls decorating blue-and-white porcelain and the silhouette of the jiaoling aoqun (cross-collared jacket with skirt).

Although hanfu was historically made from woven fabrics seamed together, this sweater boasts a seamless knitted construction. Nonetheless, I’ve incorporated many features of hanfu in this design — dolman sleeves, curved underarms, continuous grain direction, a curved hem, a left-over-right collar, asymmetric fronts, and an inner collar that doesn’t extend all the way to the side seam. There are also bits of inspiration throughout — faux seams where real ones existed historically, a stockinette band that emulates the huling (collar protector), and double-knit fabric to emulate hems. If I were to classify this garment, it would be hanyuansu (clothing with Han elements) inspired by Ming Dynasty jiaoling shan (unlined shirt) with jianxiu (tapered sleeves).

This sweater is constructed top-down, using a variety of techniques: provisional cast-on, double-knitting, cables, crocheted bobbles, 3-needle bind-off, tubular bind-off, and embroidery. Don’t let that intimidate you, though — there are huge expanses of stockinette stitch to allow for fairly mindless knitting, and it’s worked up quickly in a bulky-weight yarn.

SIZE
XS (S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X)
shown in size XS with 6 inches/15.25 cm of positive ease

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest/Bust: 36 (40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 68) inches/91 (102, 112, 122, 132, 142, 152, 163, 173) cm
Length: 20.5 (21, 21.25, 21.5, 21.75, 22, 22, 22.5, 22.5) inches/52 (53.5, 54, 54.5, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57) cm

MATERIALS
Yarn
Knit Picks Wonderfluff (70% alpaca, 23% nylon, 7% merino; 142 yds/130 m per 1.75 oz/50 g ball); color: Ripple Heather; 9 (10, 10, 11, 11, 12, 13 13, 14) balls

Yarn Characteristics
The sample shown uses a bulky-weight tube-blown yarn. It comprises alpaca and merino fibers blown into a knitted nylon tube. The yarn is light and warm, with a heathered appearance.

Needles
US #8/5mm needles for working flat

Hooks
US H-8/5mm (for bobbles)

Notions
7 stitch markers
3 stitch holders
cable needle
yarn needle

GAUGE
16 sts/28 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in Stockinette stitch