26 May 2024: Went to Magazzino Italian Art today and saw a bunch of Jennies!

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6 May 2023: I redid the collar, and like it a whole lot better.

I cast on 91 (long tail), knit the next row 1 x1 rib while marking the center 37 sts. Did German short rows every five stitches until 6 sts remain on either end. Then 1 x 1 rib for 11 rows. Then did the same increases as before. Italian bind off.

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10 April 2023: it’s all finished. I have my very own Inisherin pointy collar jumper!

The collar was tricky and I may re-do it someday but it stays on for now since I’m absolutely thrilled with how it all turned out. It looks so good.

Measurements (taken flat):

Body circ: 18.5”
Body length from underarm to c/o bottom edge: 15”
Body length center front: 19”
Sleeve length from underarm to b/o edge: 16”
Upper arm circ: 6.25”
Cuff circ: 3.5”

Gauge (flat and in-the-round): 20 sts x 28 rows

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If anyone wants to knit one, my notes are below. If you have knitted drop shoulder construction sweaters before, then this should be a breeze.

I can’t really give technical advice on how many more/less stitches to cast on to yield a smaller/larger size. But I gather gauge could play a significant role (I’m a tight knitter). And playing around with the width of diamond/X could help, too (instead of 15 sts across, maybe it could be 13 or 17 or 19?) — ditto for the seed stitch columns. To modify length, to make it shorter or longer, knit less or more diamonds and Xs.

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WHAT I DID:

Front and back knitted flat, separately. No short rows for shoulder shaping. Only shaping was for neckline. (Hand)washed and dried front and back. 3-needle bind off shoulders. Mattress stitch the sides, after eyeballing and and figuring out what would make a comfortable opening for sleeves. Also looked at other patterns that had drop shoulder construction. Picked up stitches for sleeves and decreased accordingly. Picked up neckline stitches for regular ribbed collar. Knitted pointed collar separately and sewed on later.

Note1: the selvedge stitches (first and last stitches) are knit on right side, and purled on wrong side for the entirety of the front and back panels.

Note2: the stitch on either side of the 15-stitch diamond/X is purl on RS, and knit on WS.

FRONT:
Using US4:
Cast-on, long tail tubular, 95 stitches, and two foundation rows.

Using US6:
RS: k1, (k1, p1)* to last two sts, k2
WS: p1, (p1, k1)* to last two sts, p2
Repeated until I reached 1.75,” ending with WS row.

Using US7:
RS: k1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, (p1, PM, k15, PM, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1)* repeat four times to last stitch, k1
WS: p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, (k1, p15, k1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1)* repeat four times to last stitch, p1
Repeated last two rows one more time.

Then onto diamond / X pattern. See chart. Note that there are five stockinette rows in-between diamond and X.

Repeated diamond and X pattern 3 times so that I had Diamond, X, diamond, X, diamond, X. On next diamond, I bound off the center 15 sts on 4th row (WS), and continued knitting in pattern for the rest of the row. I worked on left front (right front on hold). Then b/o one stitch every other row (WS), six times. 34 sts remain. Then worked in pattern until one row shy of finishing the X pattern. Why I did this, no reason. Put left shoulder stitches on hold. Rejoined yarn on right front and b/o one stitch on RS, six times, all the while working in pattern. End the right front shoulder exactly at the same row as the left. Put right shoulder sts on hold.

Note: leave yarn tail long enough for seaming shoulders.

BACK:
Worked just like the front, except for neckline. I did diamond, X, diamond, X, diamond, X, diamond. Then on the next X, I bound off the center 23 sts on the 3rd row, and continued knitting in pattern for the rest of the row. I worked on left back (right back on hold). Then b/o 1 every other row on RS, two times. 34 sts remain. Then worked in pattern until one row shy of finishing the X pattern. Put left back shoulder stitches on hold. Rejoined yarn for right back and b/o one stitch on WS, two times, while working in pattern. End the right back shoulder at the same row as the left. Put right back shoulder sts on hold.

Washed front and back panels. Once dry, did 3-needle bind off for shoulders; and mattress stitch the sides.

SLEEVES:
Using US7:
I picked up 2 out of 3 stitches and knitted the sleeves in the round. This took me three attempts. First: 80 sts which yielded ginormous sleeve opening. Second: 72, which was still pretty roomy. Third and final: 66, which was just right for me. Decreased every 8, 11 times, to 44 sts. Then switched to US5 and did 1 x 1 cuff and did Italian bind-off.

NOTE: For each failed attempt, I had seam the sides more and more, incrementally.

COLLAR:
Using US5:
Center back, picked up 12 b/o sts
10 the sides towards shoulder seam
24
15 b/o sts in front
24
10
11 b/o sts in back
PM
________
106 total, which was too many for my liking. In the following round while doing 1x1 rib, I thought I decreased to 96 but inadvertently decreased to 94. Oh well.
Did 1 x1 rib for 7 rounds.
Bound off in pattern.

POINTED COLLAR:
Note: I probably will re-do this some day.
I looked at the photos, and guesstimated 9-11 stitch gap between the pointy collar. So I cast on 11 less stitches than my rounded collar — 83 stitches. Silly me. I slipped the edge stitches for a cleaner line. I knitted 1 x 1 rib for 14 rows, then increased on each side every other row 10 times. I made alternating knit and purl increases. Increase method:
increase row: k1, m1, rib pattern to last stitch, m1, slip last stitch with yarn in front.
next row: k1, rib pattern to last stitch, slip last stitch with yarn in front.
Repeat last two rows 10 times.

Italian bind-off.

Washed the collar. Dried it. Blocked it.

I thought it would be as simple as sewing it stitch by stitch to the “seam” where I picked up the neckline stitches, but NOOOOO. It didn’t look and lay right. So I just winged it.

If I were to do the pointed collar again and if the pointed collar were to be seamed onto where I picked the collar stitches, stitch by stitch, I would: cast on 89, if not 91 sts. Knit 1 x 1 rib for 12-14 rows. Do 8 short rows so that the back section gets bumped up a bit. Do the same increases as I had before.

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2 April 2023: yesterday I finished the back, and washed the two pieces (front and back).

Today I seamed the shoulder seams (3-needle bind-off), and am slowly and painstakingly seaming the sides. I’ve picked up the collar stitches and knitted 1x1 rib for 1” and bound off in pattern.

What’s left: (1) figure out how far up I should seam the sides. The sleeves of the original sweater look loose and not very fitted. And (2) how to knit that pointed collar.

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29 March 2023: front completed. Now onto back.

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23 March 2023: cast-on

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Like countless others, I watched The Banshees of Inisherin and fell head over heels for all the knitwear — especially the collared jumper. Hence this attempt to replicate it.

I have stared at all the photos and read the craftfix article (https://www.craftfix.com/banshees-of-inisherin-knitting/), and have a pretty good idea of how to do it.

craftfix: Most of the sweaters have a drop shoulder construction, so there’s 4 rectangle shapes (excluding necklines) for the front, back and 2 sleeves.

So I’m translating that as no short rows for shoulders; and only shaping is for neckline.

Like the designer, I will knit this flat (except for the sleeves which I will knit in the round after picking up stitches).

My plan:

US4 tubular 1x1 cast on plus two foundation rows
US6 1 x 1 ribbing (hem, cuff, collar)
US7 for the rest

Knit flat (front and back), bottom up
Long tail 1x1 tubular cast-on
Seam sides and shoulders
Pick up stitches for sleeves and knit in the round
Pick up stitches around the collar and knit in the round
Collar rib: 1x1 (6-7 rounds and b/o in pattern)
Cuff rib: 1x1 (for 2”, and Italian b/o)
Body hem rib: 1x1 (for 2”)

Knit 1x1 rib collar separately and sew on later.