Oh My! I am a sock knitter. I am also not a designer, so this was a stretch for me on a lot of levels.

My son designed the sweater in terms of which patterns went where, and the colours. We started with a crude drawing (see photos). Instead of modifying a pattern (which would have been the better choice) I researched Salish and Cowichan sweaters on the web and decided to follow the basic concepts found in the book Salish Indian Sweaters. This book is out of print but I was fortunate to find it at my library - right across the street from my LYS in Vancouver.

Here are a few places where I learned a lot about spinning, weaving and knitting of the Cowichan people. By far the most information can be found on theSalish Fusion blog Buy Sylvia’s books. They are awesome!
IF I ever knit another one - big IF - I will go here to get the awesome yarn Custom Woolen Mills Prairie Sea Fusion (This is Canadian! Read all about the collaboration with Sylvia Olsen and the mill here)

There are many Coast Salish artists keeping their traditional craft alive. You may choose to purchase a sweater directly from the source,rather than knit one. Here is a list of some local artists of all types. Cowichan Tribes: Arts and Crafts I have struggled with the appropriation of their culture with this sweater. I will spare you my journey but in the end after consulting elders and others, and avoiding purchases from those that have prospered from appropriation (Mary Maxim, Buffalo, etc) I think this is a respectful use of their craft. I have learned about their culture, and how colonialization impacted knitting, which was a late adaptation to the Cowichan culture. Yarn and weaving however goes very far back, and was likely the real reason their sweaters were sought after in the early/mid 1900’s The oppression is hard to bear. These are amazingly resilient people. Read Knitting for our Lives

If you really want to dig in to more history, have a look at this from the UBC library, and go to the MOA to see vintage sweaters for yourself. There are also many enlightening videos. This is the most in-depth but you can find shorter snippets too. Mary Ellen Joe: Cowichan knitting

I used a bottom up traditional construction, but on circular needles. I used my usual fairisle technique which I learned from a friend and is exactly like this on Philosopher’s wool. 2 handed fairisle technique This is not the same as the traditional salish technique but gives the same woven pattern on the inside. Check out Knitty issue 17 for video of salish technique I found my 2 handed fairisle really difficult with this yarn, and it pulled unevenly across the stitches. Despite practicing before I started, I think I would need to make a few more sweaters to improve my tension, or perhaps consider learning the Salish technique which requires picking up and dropping the yarn which I wanted to avoid. I definitely improved as I went along. Seriously, 2 or 3 more sweaters and it might be ok. Also avoiding large swatches of white with black carried across the back would help.

I used the traditional rectangle shape, with a small underarm gusset. I used the 3 needle shoulder bind off. The sleeves are knit top down. The shawl collar was described in the book.

One important thing to note, is that the book doesn’t contain a pattern, but rather general descriptions and a sort of recipe. You will need to figure out how to actually do it yourself. I didn’t keep good enough notes to write a detailed pattern, but I kept notes on the number of stitches, decreases etc, on my sketch (see photos)

Despite my planning, it was too short! So I performed a bit of sweater surgery. I cut off the ribbing, and added on another 2 inches by knitting down from the picked up stitches. Scary, but worth it. Thanks Feride for the tips in this video How to lengthen a cardigan

I did get a bit of tendonitis and hand cramps knitting this beast. I am not at all happy with the uneven fairisle which is most noticeable on the salmon. I also don’t like the little points on the shawl collar where the 2 sections meet. I am no fan of this yarn. Unspun breaks easily, splits and pills. I have no idea why this has become the go-to yarn for these sweaters.