Happy Summer (almost fall)!
While I’m normally a winter knitter, I’ve had to pull out the needles to give my hands something to do. So, I decided it was time to work on my 2nd sweater. Yep, I think I may be addicted to knitting sweaters now… oopsies. I like this particular sweater technique because, while it does require a touch of seaming, it is actually one piece, and I get to make vertical stripes!
I plan to post this pattern as I progress with the sweater I am actually knitting. Currently I’m averaging 2-4 rows per day, or roughly an inch of knit fabric. At this rate, it will probably take another month or two to finish. I’m about 1/4th of the way through the sweater at this point.
To create this pattern you will need to know knit, purl, and how to cross a basic cable. It is a very basic pattern, and the sweater fits quite loosely so it is very forgiving.
The cable pattern is an addition that I added after making this pattern the first time in straight stockinette. Cast on is the same for plain stockinette as it is for a cable. If you don’t want to do the cable, just omit the stitch marker placings.
Now, the unique thing about the sweater I’m developing this pattern with is Woad. Every color in the sweater is woad dyed, and the purpose of the stripe pattern you can see in the picture is to show how all the colors of the woad plant harmonize together. But seriously, not counting the different shades of blue I have 7 different colors from one plant. Now that’s a rainbow!
Sweater Knitting Pattern: The First Sleeve
Gauge: 4 stitches per inch, and 5-6 rows per inch.
Your cast-on edge is the start of one sleeve.
Cast on 39 stitches, place stitch marker. Cast on 12 stitches and place a second stitch marker. Cast on 39 more stitches for a total of 90 stitches.
1st Row: Knit to your stitch marker, purl the first two stitches after your marker, knit 8, purl two, and shift your 2nd marker. Knit to the end of the row.
2nd Row: Purl to your stitch marker, knit next two stitches, purl 8, knit 2, shift your marker, and purl to the end of the row.
Repeat for 6 more rows.
Row 9 (first row of next pre-cable crossover): Knit to your stitch marker, purl two, place the first 4 stitches onto your cable needle and bring to front. Knit the next four stitches, then the four stitches on your cable needle, purl two. Knit to the end of the row.
Repeat until your sleeve is the length desired. Due to the looseness of the sleeves, I like having them as a three quarter length. For that, I knit 10 cable crossings, or 80 rows. If you are taller or shorter than me, you may need to adjust the length to fit your own arms.
The ending of the sleeve approximately corresponds to the cap of your shoulder. You will gain a bit of sleeve length due to the adjustment and fit when the body is knit.
Color Variations:
My personal favorite color variation is a series of blended stripes. Two colors are alternated every second row, and I do three repeats with each color, excepting the starting and ending colors which each get two repeats.
To create this color variation: start a new color at the start of a knit row, knit two rows as described above. At the start of the next knit row, start a new color while leaving your current color as an active thread, and complete two rows (one knit, one purl) in the second color. Then, bring the active yarn of color 1 around the active thread for color 2 and knit/purl the next two rows. On the next repeat of color 2, break the thread of color 1 and secure the tail, knit two rows of color 2 and begin color 3. Knit a third stripe of color 2, and fasten the yarn tail on the second repeat of color 3. Start and end colors in three-stripe blocks until you run out of colors, or your sweater sleeve is the desired length.
For my sweater, I did the first 8 rows in one color, the next 4 in a 2nd, and then began the 3 stripe variation. I like this particular stripe variation as it makes it very easy to count the rows for the cable crossing.
Back To You:
I hope you enjoyed beginning a vertical stripe sweater. Stay tuned for the body-increases, coming later this week.
What would you add to this pattern? Was everything clear, or is there something you’d like to have clarified?
Leave a comment!