Knititude

Hints for knitting the Blue Ridge Sweater

A knitter contacted me to clarify the instructions for the sleeve increases for the Blue Ridge Sweater, which is one of the patterns in the Spring 2016 issue of interweave Knits. So I decided to include this information in a blog post, and also to offer an alternative to some of the instructions given in the published pattern. If you are just looking for these clarifications, skip to the last third of the post, because I first explain some of the practical challenges that shaped the final design of the body and sleeves. 

The Blue Ridge Sweater is an unusual pattern for me in that it only includes three sizes (I usually try to do a least five, and more often seven). This is because the pattern repeat is large, at 4 1/2"/11.5 cm wide--and if you consider that an odd number of repeats would bring the additional challenge of centering the design differently on front and back, it really makes the repeat 9" (so that there is always an even number of repeats). Since there is usually about a 4" difference between adjacent bust sizes, this pretty much meant that I could only write the pattern for every other size.

If this had been a more traditional Aran sweater, where the stitch patterns go straight up and down, large panels would have been less of a problem: many Aran sweaters center a large cable or textured pattern on front and back, or else have paired large panels on left and right, and surround these focal points with smaller panels in between (and on the sleeves). But since this is a yoked sweater, with the same two stitch patterns repeating around body, sleeves and then yoke, I had to figure out how to fit in the right number of the two types of panels for each size.

I started at the top by figuring out how big the base of the yoke (where sleeves and body are joined) should be for each size, which determined the number of pattern repeats. The size of the base of the yoke was guided by how big I wanted the body and sleeves to be at the levels of the bust and the upper arms, but I also had to decide how many stitches from body and sleeves I would hold for the underarms. If not enough stitches are reserved for the underarm, the sweater will be uncomfortably tight in this area; if too many, then the outer sleeves and/or the front and back will be too tight.

But holding back these stitches meant that there would be an interruption in the stitch patterns from sleeves and body, and for the patterns to continue unbroken around the yoke, any partial panels from sleeves and body would have to combine to make a single panel. Even if it happened that the stitches for the underarm were enough for one whole panel, I would have to make sure that the sequence of patterns from sleeves and body coordinated, so that I didn't end up with two of the same panels next to each other on the yoke. I used the diagram below to help me figure this out for each size (B stands for Cable & Bobble panel, and L for Lace panel, and the vertical lines between the large and small circles of Bs and Ls represent the underarm stitches).

And what I finally concluded is that the various parts of the sweater would fit better if there was a narrow plain (stockinette stitch) panel on each side of the body. This allowed me to more easily allot the right number of stitches to underarm, body and sleeves, for the best fit for each size. The plain panels are not noticeable, and disappear into the underarm, allowing the Lace and the Cable & Bobble stitch patterns to continue uninterrupted around the yoke.

This solution also suggests an alternative to the sleeve increase instructions given in Interweave Knits, which tell you to work all of the increases into repeats of the Lace or the Cable & Bobble pattern. In every size, there are enough stitches increased to complete one or two of the patterns, but then there are additional increases which are not enough to form full panels.

So instead of working incomplete Lace or Cable & Bobble panels, here is what you could do: 

For Size 36 1/4", after working the first 11 increases into the Cable and Bobble pattern, work the remaining four increases as follows: first as a purl stitch, and then as a knit stitch for the last three increases.

For Size 43 1/2", after working the first 11 increases into completing the Lace pattern, work the remaining five increases as follows: first as a purl stitch, and then as a knit stitch for the last four increases.

For Size 52 1/2", after working the first 8 increases into completing the Lace pattern and the next 11 stitches into the Cable and Bobble pattern, work the remaining five increases as follows: first as a purl stitch, and then as a knit stitch for the last four increases.

I feel this is easier than trying to decide how to work a partial lace or cable panel that no one is going to see anyway (unless you are raising your arm). You will end up with a narrow plain triangle at the top of the underside of the sleeve. The first stitch of the round will remain in the center of the top of this triangle, which will thus be 7 (9, 9) stitches wide (not including the purl stitches on each side), to join to the top of the plain panel at the side of the body. The photo below shows how it will look.

Whether you decide to work the sleeve increases as published in Interweave, or as described above, here are a few clarifications:

• Increases are paired; that is, you will be forming two new panels with the increases, one just after the beginning of the round, and one at the end of the round. 
• The first stitch of the round remains at the center of the underarm.
• When you are working the sleeve increases into the stitch patterns, do them starting from the left side of the chart for the increase near the beginning of the round, and starting from the right side of the chart for the increase at the end of the round. This will make the partial panels mirror images and also make them continuous with the rest of the stitch patterns (see above). 

Treccione Pullover

The pattern for the Treccione Pullover is now available on Ravelry! I worked with the Dream in Color yarn company to design this pullover; they kindly allowed me to pick any of their yarns and the colorway, and provided yarn and photography (1st and 5th photos courtesy Dream in Color yarns). I decided to use the worsted weight Classy with Cashmere, and it wasn't easy to pick a colorway among so many gorgeous options, but in the end I chose Magic Orchid, a rich blend of plums and burgundies; the color is most accurate in the photos taken outdoors.

I actually came up with the idea of using short rows to shape a sideways-knitted cabled yoke at least two years ago, did a swatch using the bulky cable I ended up using for Treccione, and submitted the design proposal for publication at least once (and maybe twice). I thought it was a cool idea, and so it was one of those times when I was a lttle surprised that it wasn't accepted (there are times when I'm not sure it's exactly what the publication is looking for). But you never know whether a design proposal will be accepted or not, and one of the nice things about self-publishing patterns is that I know I can always publish one of my designs myself! 

Of course, with a sideways-knitted yoke, the sweater must either be a cardigan, or the ends of the yoke have to be joined somehow. Having never had great success with Kitchener stitch (the ends of the graft in particular always looked funky) and not liking the idea of a visible seam, I was delighted to come across a post by Techknitter on grafting using the duplicate stitch or contrast color method. For me this worked perfectly, even across the knit-purl transitions between the cables, and even on both ends of the grafted seam! (The safety pin in the above photo marks the grafted row; for more on the duplicate stitch grafting method, see this post.) 

The next challenge in writing the pattern was figuring out how to write the instructions for the short rows, and how many short rows to insert to make sure that the top and bottom of the yoke were the right size. I was able to insert the short row instructions into the instructions for the cable repeat, and by working with the desired finished measurements for the neck opening and the bottom of the yoke, I was able to figure out how many short rows were needed per cable repeat. (Not that there was only one answer to the the question of how many short rows; by inserting more short rows, I would have ended up with a more flared yoke, which could have been pulled down farther over the shoulders.)

The rest of the pullover was straightforward; I wanted to keep it simple to focus attention on the yoke. So there is some waist shaping, and rolled hems, and that's about it! There were only two issues that came up: First, I realized I was going to run out of yarn if I did full-length sleeves. Totally my fault-- I told Dream in Color how much yarn I thought I would need, and I didn't realize that the cabled yoke would gobble up so much yarn. So I went with 3/4- length sleeves. (If you want to do full length sleeves, buy a skein or two extra, then figure out how long you want the sleeves and how many more stitches you need to decrease to end up with your desired cuff circumference. You may have to recalculate the decrease frequency, OR you may even be able to keep the sleeve decreases at the same frequency. Then just keep going until sleeves are the desired length.)

Second, I realized when I was almost done with the yoke that there was noticeable variation in color between skeins (see photo of back of sweater, which shows a darker patch in the center of the yoke). So for the rest of the pullover, I divided the skeins into two groups, with the skeins within each group similar to each other, and used one skein from each group at all times, alternating between skeins every few rounds. For the sleeves I divided two skeins into two

balls each, and used one ball from each skein for each sleeve. Since there were no seams in which to hide the transitions between skeins, I switched yarns in the underarm area (sleeves ) or the side (body), and by twisting the yarns once around each other every time I switched, and making sure the yarn carried over several rounds was the correct tension, I found that the switches were virtually invisible. And yes, working from two skeins was a nuisance, but for me it was worth it, to 

avoid having slight color variations between skeins show up as thick stripes on the finished pullover. Of the last three photos, the top one shows the side with the yarn switches, the next shows the side without switches, and the last shows the wrong side with switches.

 

 

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Knit it now!

Haven't posted much lately; summer on Cape Cod usually includes lots of visitors, and this year is no exception: after 3 1/2 weeks straight of houseguests, we just sent the last wave home on Saturday. We actually had a great time, but now-- back to work! 

My Bunny Yoke Pullover pattern is now available for purchase! I'm hoping to write a post about the process of creating this design, and about some of the challenges encountered in writing up my first stranded pattern, but seeing as I still haven't posted about the Circles Vest design process, it will probably be a little while. 

In the meantime, a couple of commenters asked me about the Knit It Now size tables I mentioned in my last post. Knit It Now is a website mainly devoted to machine knitting, but they do have many tutorials and useful charts on their site, including size charts which are much more comprehensive than the Craft Yarn Council ones-- many more sizes are covered, including Misses, Women's and Juniors, and some additional measurements (armhole to waist, raglan depth, wrist circumference) are included. You do have to become a member to view all of the charts, but membership is free. If you are writing patterns for publication, just remember that most magazines and websites use the CYC measurements as a basis for sizing, but the Knit It Now charts are great for answering questions like "how big should I make the sleeve cuff for this sweater?" and "how long should the raglan seam be for size 12?"-- stuff like that.