Whether you believe that William Shakespeare wrote all those plays and sonnets himself, or that a team of monkeys did it, if you’ve gotten around a bit in the world you will no doubt have heard a variety of lines quoted over the years from one or another of the many works attributed to him. I have often heard the first two lines of Shakespeare’s 18th sonnet quoted, rarely the next two lines, almost never the entire thing. Here’s how it starts:

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date…

Sweater is knit in the round to the armholes, where stitches are added to make a short, graceful sleeve, the lace begins. Sweater is worked flat from here to the shoulders. The stitch is easy to knit, if you are vigilant. The stitch count changes on you, but if you’re off it shows right away. Tips are included in the pattern to help keep track of how many stitches should be on the needle at any given point.

Finished sizes: 30.25, 33, 35.5, 39 (41.75, 44.5, 48, 50.75) inches; 77, 84, 90, 99 (106, 113, 122, 129) cm

To fit bust sizes: up to 2 inches (5 cm) larger than finished sweater (negative ease)

Yarn: DK weight; 595, 650, 700, 770 (825, 880, 950, 1000) yards

Skills: k2tog, ssk, YO, m1, knitting in the round

Notions: 5 stitch markers (one of which is different from the rest, to mark, yarn needle

Stitch pattern: Charted and written.

Difficulty: Experienced.