Nochebuena Pullover – Knitting Pattern

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When the holidays approach, the knits come out! It’s one of my favorite parts of the weather turning. Christmas in NYC can be magical, but Christmas in my hometown in Mexico is full of nostalgia: hot chocolate, delicious food, and lots and lots of “Nochebuenas” along with decorations.

“Nochebuena” is the Spanish word for Christmas Eve, but it is also the name of the Poinsettia flowers, the ones everyone immediately correlates with the winter holiday. But did you know these flowers (just like me!) are originally from Mexico?

Hobbii yarn had a special challenge called #AChristmasTale and I was heavily inspired by those beautiful flowers that are so quintessential with Christmas. I also really wanted to design a pullover inspired by the 1940s style, specifically one with colorwork that switches the main color halfway reflecting the design. And so this pullover was born!

Design

This pullover is knit top-bottom, starting at the neckline. The construction is a simple raglan increase, although for this design I wanted the increases to be as invisible as possible so I did a special technique for them. Not to worry! It’s very easy and I have a tutorial for you below if you have never knit invisible raglan increases.

Depending on the size, at some point in your raglan increase you begin working off the colorwork chart in the pattern, which is a repeat of this poinsettia design. The most important thing to remember is that each section of the raglan (front, sleeves and back) starts the colorwork chart from the beginning, so you don’t have to worry to match the chart between increases. Phew! Still, I think the increases work, and half way through the chart you will switch you main color for the rest of the pullover. Easy!

The pattern has 2 options for sleeves, the short ones you see in the sample, and long sleeve if you prefer those. My testers tried both and they look wonderful!

If it’s all still confusing as you work through the pattern, I have made a tutorial video that explains how all this works. See below!

Yarn

For this design, I decided to use Hobbii’s Highland Wool It is a DK yarn, super easy to use and maybe on the rougher side, but I prefer this type of yarn for colorwork and for sweaters that I plan to have a lot of wear. It’s thin enough that it creates a lovely drape!

The great thing about this yarn is that it also comes in lots of colors, so if you want a less traditional sweater and move away from the red and white that I did, you can!

Ready to start? Find the Pattern below.

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