This sweater was inspired by the beautiful Gladioli that I watched slowly emerge from tiny buds to gorgeous flowers.
The sweater has a centre panel of three gladioli ‘stalks’ with different coloured buds. The buds are made using cables and the colour is added after knitting and blocking using a weave darning technique. The base of each bud is then closed by wrapping the cable stitches to pull them together.
You need three shades of Rennie Handknits Chunky Lambswool Aran to make this sweater: The main shade is Stonehenge (207) and the two shades used for the decorative darning are Marzipan (992) and Cream (412).
There is also a Masterclass on the decorative darning technique in Issue 81, with step by step photos.