Whether the Nutcracker ballet is something that evokes joy (seeing it performed every year like clockwork, a sign of the holiday season with snowflakes and sugar plum fairies) or it evokes chaos (performing in it yearly and cycling through every role in the cast list and feeling nuttier with every passing second), this sweater tries to make sense of the chaos.

March of the Nutcrackers is a raglan shaped sweater featuring the affable wooden toys beloved of the nutcracker ballet. Cable twists define the raglan shaping like the twists of a candy cane you might see dancing around the stage during the land of the sweets in act ii and the march itself is written out musically on the cuffs - the treble clef notes are displayed on the right hand sleeve and the bass clef notes are on the left hand sleeve, corresponding to the notes played by each hand on a piano. This sweater is meant to be customizable in it’s design - pick and choose from five different nutcracker designs to create the perfect lineup to whisk you away on a magical ballet adventure.

Charts are included for the cable raglan shaping, the sheet music notation on the cuffs, and for each of the five nutcrackers as well as the lineup of charts used for the test knit.

What You’ll Need:

yarn:
MC: 1000 (1100, 1200, 1320, 1420) (1540, 1640, 1760, 1860) yds // 915 (1005, 1100, 1205, 1300) (1410, 1500, 1610, 1700) m
CC: 300 (350, 410, 470, 540) (600, 670, 740, 810) yds // 275 (320, 375, 430, 495) (550, 610, 675, 740) m
fingering weight 75% merino wool, 25% nylon

test knit completed with Scheepjes Metropolis fingering in MC Santiago and CC Almaty

needles:
main: 3.25 mm circular needles for magic loop method or DPNs
neckline and ribbing: 3 mm circular needles for magic loop method or DPNs

notions:
stitch markers
cable needle
tapestry needle
scissors
scrap yarn for stitches on hold

Sizing and Gauge:

sizes:
1 (2, 3, 4, 5) (6, 7, 8, 9)
all dimensions shown are of the finished and blocked garment.
finished garmet chest circumference: 33 (37, 41, 45, 49) (53, 57, 61, 65) in // 84 (94, 104, 114, 124) (135, 145, 155, 165) cm

select a size that gives 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) of positive ease to replicate the fit of the raglan sweater.

the test knit was done in a size 2 for a 33 inch (84 cm) bust

gauge:
24 sts x 40 rnds is 4 in (10 cm) with larger needles in stockinette st