Sooper is a fun children’s sweater worked from the bottom up, featuring the marlisle technique.

The Sooper Sweater is the ninth project in Boost Your Knitting, a programme to help you grow your knitting skills.

SIZES
Approximate age: 6 mos-1 yr (1-2 yrs, 2-4 yrs, 4-6 yrs, 6-8 yrs, 8-10 yrs)
Chest circumference: 52 (56, 60, 65, 70, 78) cm [20 1/2 (22, 23 1/2, 25 1/2, 27 1/2, 30 3/4) in]
Length to underarm: 20.5 (23, 25.5, 28, 30.5, 33) cm [8 (9, 10, 11, 12, 13) in]
Upper arm circumference: 18 (19, 20, 23, 23, 25) cm [7 (7 1/2, 7 3/4, 9, 9, 9 3/4) in]
Sleeve length: 17.5 (20, 25.5, 30, 33, 38) cm [6 3/4 (7 3/4, 10, 11 3/4, 13, 15) in]
Yoke depth at front neck: 11.5 (12.5, 13, 14, 15.5, 16.5) cm [4 1/2 (4 3/4, 5, 5 1/2, 6, 6 1/2) in]
Neck drop: 0 (1, 1, 1.5, 1.5, 2) cm [0 (1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 3/4) in]
Neck circumference: 33 (33, 38.5, 38.5, 44, 44) cm [13 (13, 15 1/4, 15 1/4, 17 1/4, 17 1/4) in]

YARN
Arnall-Culliford Knitwear Something to Knit With 4ply (4ply weight / fingering; 70% highland wool, 30% superfine alpaca;
187m per 50g skein)
Yarn A: Sky; 2 (3, 3, 4, 4, 5) x 50g skeins
Yarn B: Beach; 2 (3, 3, 4, 4, 5) x 50g skeins
When substituting colours, make yarn A the least likely to show dirt.

NEEDLES AND NOTIONS
1 set 5mm [US 8] circular needles 40cm [16in] long, or your preferred needles for working medium circumferences in the round, or size needed to match tension
1 set 5mm [US 8] double-pointed needles, or your preferred needles for working small circumferences in the round, or size needed to match tension
1 set 5mm [US 8] circular needles 60cm [24in] long, or your preferred needles for working medium circumferences in the round, or size needed to match tension (optional – for working the yoke in larger sizes)
A spare needle of approx. 5mm [US 8] for working the three-needle cast-off method
Waste yarn (smooth so that it won’t stick to the main yarn)
Tapestry needle
Stitch markers

TENSION
20 sts and 38 rounds to 10cm [4in] over garter stitch holding yarns A&B together, after washing and blocking.

PATTERN NOTES
Sooper is worked from the bottom up. Both body and sleeves use decorative seams to disguise the jog that you would otherwise get when working garter stitch in the round. By starting with the sleeves, you can avoid getting stuck on Sleeve Island! You can also treat them as a swatch: if you get the correct tension, you have the start of a sleeve, if not, it was meant to be a swatch and not a sleeve. Do keep the swatch until you have a correct version, rather than frogging, so that you can use it to make a comparison. The body and sleeves are joined at the yoke and the larger sizes work short rows to raise the back neck. Instructions are given for working wrap and turn short rows, but German short rows work equally well in garter stitch (in which case you will need to knit the double stitches as one when you work over them). The strikingly large zigzags in the yoke are possible in marlisle, because the marled sections allow for the motifs to be spread much further apart than would be practical (or fun) in other techniques. Finally the underarms are joined with a three-needle cast off, completing your sweater.

Little holes or different tension stitches do have a tendency to appear at the joins between when you switch from working yarn A or B singly to working with yarns A and B together. This can be minimised in a number of ways, for example when working with two yarns held together, by giving a little gentle ‘tug’ to the yarn used singly 2 sts after it was used singly. However, as yet, it can’t be completely avoided, therefore it’s best to embrace it as part of the textural richness of marlisle.

SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
Photo tutorials for the following techniques can be found within this book:
Working a decorative seam and basic marlisle technique
Increasing in marlisle
Managing yarns in marlisle

The following video tutorials cam be found on our website at
www.acknitwear.co.uk/boost-your-knitting
Marlisle
Working short rows in garter stitch
Three-needle cast-off method