Della Vigna‘s story began as a design submission to The valiant Tailoress together with a sewing design made by Veronika Glitsch. The yarn I chose was sponsored yarn I had picked from Knit Norway’s warehouse. Yarn agent Thomas Quist told me to pick a few Yarns I wanted to design with. I choose two Yarns both from the Japanese Noro Yarns. Silk Garden Sock Solo was a thickness of the Silk Garden I had not tested. The original yarn is an Aran weight, while the Sock is a Sport weight. I was captivated by the Aqua green colour. The yarn is not as full of colour as the original weight, but looks more like a tweed yarn with a solid background colour, hence the solo name, I think.

The inspiration of the mood board was the opulence architecture of Venice and Aqua Green was one the selected colours. With so many colours in the tweed, I opted for an eyelet pattern with garter ridges instead of cables. Initiallly, I also planned a peplum in double seed stitch, divided from the main pattern with a tuck. For the peplum to Work, I decided to create a fitted silhouette. A pair of wide trousers with braces was designed by Veronika, hence I decided to design a pullover to go with it. The submission was not accepted. So I was free to redo my design and I opted for omitting the peplum and only working the pullover in the eyelet pattern.

Inspired by the façade of the Venetian Church San Francesco Della Vigna is this seamed pullover with waist shaping and bell sleeves. The rows of eyelets add a sculptural effect to the pullover, while its opulence is found in the wide bell sleeves, ending at the elbow. Della Vigna Pullover ends like it began in a garter stitch band crowned by an I-cord. For a large collar, wear it together with the Della Vigna Cowl.

By the time it was finished it was not that long until we were leaving for Barcelona Knits festival where I was teaching two workshops, hence I decided to bring it so that Michael could photograph me wearing it here. In the photo above you see me wearing the pullover at the top of Andante Hotel in Barcelona. The weather there felt like a very hot summer day with 24 degrees Celsius/75.2 degrees Fahrenheit, unlike the weather in Madrid & Segovia – only 1 hour and 45 minutes away with a bullet train with only 4 degrees Celsius/39.2 degrees Fahrenheit; more like the normal November weather. The weather there felt like a very hot summer day with 24 degrees Celsius/75.2 degrees Fahrenheit, unlike the weather in Madrid & Segovia – only 1 hour and 45 minutes away with a bullet train with only 4 degrees Celsius/39.2 degrees Fahrenheit; more like the normal November weather.

In the photo above, you see me wearing the cowl in the historic city of Segovia about 1 hour north-west of Madrid. Yes, I was freezing and wish I had not left my gloves in the airport parking in Oslo.

I have graded the pattern in 9 sizes with a bust circumference of 90 to 170 cm/35.5 to 67″ and a gauge of 20 stitches and 30 rows in Stockinette stitch using a 3.5 mm/US 4 needle measuring 10 cm/4″ square after blocking. The test knit for Della Vigna Pullover and/or Cowl is set to begin 13th of May in my Ravelry group.