Picture from Lion Brand website.

My next project is the Everyday Flair Bolero by Lion Brand. It’s one of their free patterns.  I’m making it out of the Edwardian colorway, which appears black but is heathered dark grey.  It’s listed as a Beginner pattern, easy to make, but I disagree.  It is a pretty pattern, and will look good on the friend I’m making it for.  Boleros don’t look flattering on my figure but she is much shorter than I am and quite petite; the bolero will highlight her curves and look good on her body.

It turns out, when I read the comments for the pattern, I’m not alone in that opinion.  The difficulty lies in the way the pattern is written.  There are two issues with it:  first, the order of operations is confusing and, second, the second front piece is merely written as “repeat but reverse all shaping.”  I’m having to take very careful notes and use several markers to keep the pattern in order, which is ironic, since the pattern is a simple K3/P2 on RS, K on the WS.  I restarted the second front piece four times, because the pattern is very easy to jog and won’t look good that way.

This is the first front piece, showing the pattern of K3/P2 ribbing.  On the WS, all stitches are K, which makes it appear like a garter rib stitch.  When you finish the front of the sweater, you slide it off to a holder so I’m using a circular needle to hold the stitches in place.  Each of these sides will be joined and the sweater finished in one piece.

This is the second front piece, Take Four.  🙂

I should be finished with the second front piece today and will then join it.  I will say, as long as the pieces are done correctly, the sweater knits up quickly.