To tell you the truth, I whimper a lot when I’m scrolling through my Pinterest feed. Not in general, mind you, just every time this sublime Souchi cashmere sweater appears. Which is multiple times a day, for weeks now. I’ve seriously never seen an image so widely repinned. If I had the money, and if it weren’t sold out, I would not be inclined to knit my own. It’s so perfect, exactly as is, and I’d want the designer to have the money. Alas, I don’t have the dough and it does appear to be sold out. And clearly I’m not the only one longing for it. So, spurred by exchanges elsewhere with Louhie and MJK, I’m here with suggestions for knitting a very close approximation of your own:

1. The image that sprang to mind when I first saw this was Helga Isager’s pattern Lemon, from the Amimono Knit Collection 2010. It’s different — slightly different shape, different details — but I wouldn’t even tamper. Just go with it! Maybe make a bigger size than you would have, so it’s just that much wider. Substitute cashmere if you can.

2. Another option is Tokuko Ochiai’s Deep Forest. Lovely as is, but to make it more like the Souchi, you could omit the cables and even the neck shaping and edging. And finish off the arms several inches sooner than the pattern calls for, leaving larger, less tapered arm openings. Again: Do it in grey. Cashmere if you can.

3. Then there’s Cirilia Rose’s cute and adaptable Espenson, which is knitted from side to side. To get something closer to the Souchi’s shape (and ignoring the color-change bits, working in classic grey instead), you could shorten the rows, to get a more cropped length in the end. Leave out the neck shaping, or shape the front just like the back. And instead of working the edging as noted, which becomes the ribbish waistband, work entirely in stockinette. Once the sides are seamed together, pick up stitches all the way around the hemline and rib for a few inches.

If you happen to know of something even closer, please chime in!

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