Say hello to the love big hooded sweater! This big, warm, valentines inspired hoodie is a hybrid of my winter blues pullover and the max hooded cardigan. It’s not too long in length, but not short either. It hits at a level that’s perfect for easy wearability!
I wanted to do something different for detail on this one and went with a mesh stitch to create a heart on the front. It actually took me two tries to get it right, I was having the hardest time trying to do the maths on this! I was so excited when I got it! I am not a math person.
Per most of my chunky knit designs, this sweater is an easy and quickish knit. I used 15mm needles for the ribbing, then my lovely 25mm needles for the remainder of it. You’ll have a new sweater in just a few days, or hours if you’re ambitious!
I made little hearts at the end of each sleeve using the duplicate stitch method. Super easy and quick. If you’ve never worked duplicate stitch, this will be the perfect chance to try it out as it’s just a small detail.
Skill level for this design is easy or beginner. You’ll need to know how to do the longtail cast on, twisted ribbing, stockinette stitch, picking up stitches, increase stitch, and seaming. I promise you’ll have no problem doing it!
First off, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a great start to what will be a fabulous year for us all! It’s been such a whirlwind of events the last few weeks and now that everything is kind of settling down, I have a few things I’d like to mention. If you follow me on Instagram, you’re already going to be familiar with all of this.
For the past few years, I have had my designs stolen again and again. It first started with actual pattern companies. A few big name ones even. The first experience I had with actually taking to one was the company Phildar. I had received a message from a follower showing they were selling a pattern nearly identical to one of mine. When I posted on my Instagram about it, many people were tagging the company, upset about it. So Phildar contacted me, wanting the post taken down and they were taking about compensation and what not. Maybe working with them on a collaboration for a new design. Lesson learned there. I took the post down and after a couple conversations via phone with the company, I never heard from them again. I received no compensation, nor did any collaboration come to be. What came to be, is they profited off of one of their designers copying my work.
I have had customers of mine find my knitting patterns on other Etsy shops, along with my pattern photos, selling the pattern as their own. With those, I am able to contact Etsy and they take them down.
I’m not going to mention them because I really don’t like accusing people of things, but I have seen other knitwear designers on Instagram publish work eerily similar to mine as well. I love designing knitwear and one of my first thoughts when I started, was that what’s going to stop others from copying my work? I love the creative process of it all and bringing something I imagine to life is one of the best feelings! So it’s a lot more than just money. That being said, I mix colors, stitches, patterns, to something that is unique and my own. I know it’s definitely possible for others to create similar things without ever knowing me or my work, but when it’s people who follow me and are familiar with my designs, I find no coincidence.
The recent Temu incident is the one that finally got to me. Temu is using my photos of my summer daisy sweater as advertising for Pinterest ads. They’re using my photos to sell copycats of the sweater on their site. I’m not sure how long this has been going on, but I have had so many people suddenly finding my sweater on there and sending me images, links, etc. I even had an email from a media company in Germany wondering if I would be open to an interview regarding my stolen work on Temu.
This is so disheartening to me on so many levels. While I love working with customers and making my own money doing something I love, I’m tired of my work being stolen. These bigger companies stealing from me, are making much more money from my work than I am. I’m not quite sure what this year will look like moving forward with publishing my patterns. There’s no stopping these companies, as far as I know.
I will never quit designing, that’s for sure. It is a love addiction that is a part of me.
So just a heads up there! I’m working on trying to figure out a way to share my work with you all and will keep you updated as I go along.
Make sure you sign up to receive emails from my site here, as I’m going to be primarily sharing information and fun stuff here instead of Instagram! There’s going to be video tutorials coming, a design class, just pure fun things.
Regardless of it all, I’m excited about what this new year will hold for Happy Love Co!
My entire goal for the Francelia pullover was a sweater to be able to wear to my sisters wedding. While it turned out even better than I had envisioned, I didn’t wear it to her wedding as it just didn’t go with the skirt I had purchased. I am however, super excited to wear it with jeans and casual outfits.
I used three different strands of yarns held together for this one. I’m loving the effect that the We Are Knitters bling bling yarn is having mixed with cotton! I’ve done two sweaters with it now and it makes for such a soft and supple feel. I used cotton, the sparkle yarn, and the bling bling. I don’t think they carry the sparkle yarn anymore, so you could use another strand of cotton instead. It’s weight is somewhere between the cotton and bling bling yarn.
I did a mesh stitch along the neckline and then a few rows of it down each of the sleeves. I love mesh stitch for it’s almost fancy style! I topped it off then with a ruffled neckline that I am absolutely smitten with! This was my first time trying out ruffles and I’m obsessed. It gives such a feminine vibe. I feel like it made the sweater!
This sweater is one that can be done by beginners! It’s got mainly basic stitches and even the ruffles are easy to work! I used 1×1 twisted ribbing for the waist and wrists, then stockinette for the remainder of the pieces. Mesh stitch is also an easy one to work!
I hope you enjoy!
Click shop in the menu above to purchase the pattern for the Francelia sweater.
Don’t forget to share your finished sweater with me! On Instagram @happyloveco ❤️
happy love co 