The playful texture of the senecio plant - also known as string of pearls - was the inspiration behind this design. Similarly to how tender strands of senecio become thinner as they descend from the center of the plant, the embellishment of nupps changes to more and more subtle from the top to the bottom of the yoke until it dissolves completely in the gentle ribbing.

Senecio is worked from the top down seamlessly with the round yoke. The neck is shaped with short rows. This design features slipped and twisted stitches, small biased stripes, Japanese wrapped stitches and two kinds of nupps, all of them playing beautifully with the subtle sheen of Coastal yarn. The main stitch pattern is easy to memorize and entertaining to knit. Instructions are both charted and written. Yardage provided for a cropped and a full-length versions.

YARN

• Sample top yarn: Coastal from Sincere Sheep (50% shaniko wool, 25% silk, 25% flax, 200yds / 183m, 2oz/57g) in color Suerte

• OR sport or dk weight yarn. Recommended: solid, semi-solid or kettle dyed to show more details of the stitch patterns.

• For the cropped top (shown), total: 710 (760, 815, 870, 920, 980, 1035) (1090, 1150, 1210, 1270, 1335, 1395, 1460)yds / 650 (695, 745, 795, 840, 895, 945) (995, 1050, 1105, 1160, 1220, 1275, 1335)m

• For the hip-length top, total: 1040 (1110, 1185, 1260, 1335, 1410, 1490) (1565, 1645, 1725, 1805, 1890, 1970, 2055)yds / 950 (1015, 1085, 1150, 1220, 1290, 1360, 1430, 1505, 1575, 1650, 1725, 1800, 1880)m