Ordered the yarn directly from the mill - price & service excellent. The Midnight Blue colour is a very, very dark navy (looks black in all but the brightest light) with little strands of white fibre in it. Very handsome yarn.
Chose the hybrid shirt-yoke / saddle shoulder from the book, knitting the body before the set-in sleeves. Added a small cable down the sides of the body, as per hubby’s specifications.
The sweater turned out great. The sleeves are a little bigger than I’d like - I should not have made the armholes quite so deep. But that makes lots of room for a shirt underneath, which isn’t a bad thing.
I appreciate the lack of seams but in exchange you get a LOT of picking up of stitches, which is never my favourite thing to do. I always thought top down saddle shoulders would be a little more elegant somehow, like contiguous shoulder shaping. Still, trust Barbara Walker: the instructions in this book are incredibly text-heavy, but they really do work!
This sweater is a birthday gift for my husband (6’4”, 41” chest, 35” waist). I used measurements taken right off his back.
May 27, 2017
Saddle Attempt #1:
Cast on 17 sts using invisible cast on from book (this is a quick & easy cast on, very well-described. I was skeptical about the lengthy written instructions but I followed what they said and it worked!). Knit stockinette for 3.5”. Cast on an additional 17 stitches and continue for another 5.5”. Put stitches on waste yarn and knit the other side.
Picked up stitches across back on almost every stitch (~130 sts) as per TechKnitter article listed below. Then decreased evenly across the back to end up with 90 sts (18” at my gauge of 5 sts/inch).
June 5, 2017
Started short rows by placing a marker 30 sts from either end (30 sts between markers). Did first short row 5 sts past marker as per Knitting From the Top Down page 75. Continued short rows every 5 sts outward to shoulder.
Useful links:
http://techknitting.blogspot.ca/2015/11/pick-up-stitches-along-selvage.html
09-06-2017
Knit back for about 23 rows (measured atsides, excluding short rows) then began increasing towards underarm using M1R, M1L increases, two stitches from selvedge, on every right side row, 8 times. 106 sts total.
09-06-2017
Pick up 37 stitches across right shoulder. (NOTE TO SELF: next time do LEFT shoulder first)
Reduce to 26 stitches on first row.
Knit across, increasing with a M1L two stitches before neck edge.
Begin short rows: Purl 5, wrap & turn.. etc. etc.to outside shoulder, always increasing at neck edge on each knit row.
When short rows are complete, continue increasing at neck edge until you have 36 sts on needle. Once at 36 sts, increase on next purl and knit row (38 sts). Break yarn and put stitches on holder.
Repeat on other shoulder (in reverse). Cast on 14 sts across front neck edge. 90 sts total.
12-06-2017
Picked up 35 sts across left shoulder. Decreased down to 26 sts on first (purl) row using P2tog, Next row: Knit 2, M1R increase, knit 3, wrap & turn. Continue short rows out to outer edge, every five stitches, while simultaneously increasing at neck edge on every knit row. Once short rows are complete, continue increasing at neck edge on every knit row until 36 sts. Then increase on every row two times (total 38 sts)
17-06-2017
Increase front and back to 106 sts each. Cast on 6 stitches under each arm and join all onto one needle. Total sts 224. Begin cable on each side. Using Loose Five Rib Braid from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury, Page 169.
24-06-2017
Revision! The sweater was a little too wide so I ripped it back and ended up casting on just 4 stitches under each arm (220 stitches total). Also had to change the cable pattern to one that was quite a bit smaller. The original braided cable was just too wide, and didn’t look right. Now the sweater has a simple six-stitch cable going down each side, with 2 stitches of reverse stockinette on each side of it. Looks quite nice.
Relieved to have moved on to the relatively boring body for now! The only excitement is the cable, plus some occasional decreases to taper the body towards the hips.
12-07-2017
Decreased the body two times (4 decreases each time), using SSK & K2tog, on either side of cable panels, one knit stitch away from the panel. (212 stitches on body).
15-07-2017
Prepare for 2x2 ribbing: On last round before ribbing starts, work a P2, K2, P2, K2, P2 in each cable panel, and do one decrease on either side of the two cable panels so that ribbing fits in with the cabled purl stitches.
Next round: begin K2P2 rib, but on this first round slip all of the knit stitches with yarn in back.
Then proceed with regular K2P2 ribbing for 1 inch.
Bind off with Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off.
17-07-2017
Armhole:
Shape shoulder with short rows as per Barbara Walker.
Saddle stitches: 17
Shirt yoke stitches: 17
Pick up 30 sts on front, 4 sts under arm, 12 sts on back. Total: 80 sts
12-08-2017
Begin short rows with 29 stitches, centred on top 17 saddle stitches, plus 6 stitches down each side.
17-08-2017
Decrease sleeve on second round after finishing short rows and again on every 12th round (K1, K2tog, K to three stitches before end of round, SSK, K1), FIVE TIMES (70 sts).
Then switch to decreases every tenth round, FIVE TIMES (60 sts).
Then switch to decreases every eighth round.
20-08-2017
Knit sleeve until 50 sts. Next round: decrease two more stitches (48). Switch to 3.25 mm needles and knit 2x2 rib for 20 rounds. Bind off.
On neck, picked up 70 stitches around, knit 1x1 rib for 10 rounds and bound off with Jeny’s Suprisingly Stretchy Bind-off. This was a shockingly low number of stitches, but it worked perfectly to tighten up the neckline and keep the shoulders from spreading too wide.
If I did this sweater again, I would make the neck line smaller, and the arm holes more shallow.
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