I began this in 2011, and almost frogged it, but I persevered and 4 years later it’s done. I usually knit in the round, and this flat knitting really slowed me down! Mosaic knitting requires flat pattern pieces, done on straight needles. (I would have had to purl to use circular needles on this one, and also deal with the “jog” at the end of the rounds. Ugh.) But I HAD to do that tessellated imp mosaic pattern!

I was intrigued by Barbara Walker’s “shadow patterns” in her book “Mosaic Knitting”, and I chose to use her little black and white imps (shadow pattern #39) for my fabric. She is a genius.

I adapted a basic modified drop-shoulder pullover pattern, by Heather Lodinsky in Knitter’s Mag.#57, winter 1999. She named it “Woven Weekenders”, and also used a mosaic stitch pattern, but I wanted those imps. I used her pattern schematic as a base, for stitch counts and measurements.

I did corrugated ribbing (red and black) on the cuffs, bottom hem, and neckline, because the sweater needed a red color accent. The rest of the sweater is garter stitch in black and cream. The mosaic imp pattern is all slip-stitch. The sweater is heavy and warm, but not as impossibly heavy as stranded worsted-weight would have been.

Today when my husband wore it into the library, it stopped the librarian in her tracks. She is a knitter, and those imps definitely got some attention.

2/9/15 Modification: I redid the ribbing on the neckline, adding another inch, with smaller needles (#6). Looks better now.