So thrilled to do another test knit for the super talented Jennifer Wood. She never disappoints. Great style, perfect fit, top-down and virtually no seaming. What else could a knitter ask for in a pattern?!

With Jennifer’s permission, I’m raising the neckline, widening the sleeves and lengthening this to be more masculine. The style is definitely unisex with these slight modifications. There is no bust shaping in this pattern. Following are details on my modifications to fit my teenage nephew. Please note that the numbers apply only to size 40.25”.

Neckline Shaping

Pattern says to increase on every other RS row. I increased on EVERY RS row until I had 51 sts on each front side. Then I cast on 6 sts on EACH side of fronts for a total of 12 cast-on sts at center front. Alternatively, you can just cast on the 12 sts on one side during the joining row - 114 front sts total after joining left and right front sections. This is the total number of front sts specified in the pattern for size 40.25”.

Armholes and Sleeves

Males have larger arms than females in general. Therefore, I did FOUR complete repeats of the Cross Cable Charts before joining front to back. This gave me a few extra sts for the upper arms as well as lowering the distance from shoulder to underarm a tad. I picked up 70 sts total for EACH sleeve. After completing the Sleeve Set Up Chart, I had 72 sts on my needles. Then I did an increase round on every 8th round. After TEN Sleeve Chart vertical repeats, this brought me to 48 sts. On the final round of the 10th Sleeve Chart repeat, I did one additional decrease to bring the final stitch count to 47 sts at the beginning of the cuff. Remember that this type of ribbing requires a stitch count that’s a multiple of (4+3) sts. Like the hem ribbing, I did a total of 24 rounds before binding off. For the cuff bind-off, I used a size 3 needle and Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. Cuff measured 3” wide after bind-off.

Pullover Length

After joining front to back in the round, I did NINE repeats of the Double Cable Chart. Then I started the Bottom Band.

For the bottom band, I did 24 rounds of the rib stitch. After bind-off, this resulted in a 3-inch wide band which is a little narrower than the pattern states. I thought that it would be more in keeping with the “teenage boy” look. Also, this type of ribbing requires a tighter-than-normal bind-off. So to achieve that, I used a size 2 US needle which is two sizes smaller than what I used for the garment, including the ribbing. (Size 3 would probably look just as good.) You do NOT want this hem to flare which is what would have happened if I bound off using the size 4 US needle. It’s little details like this that make a garment look very polished. And since there’s a lot of positive ease intended for this design, you don’t have to worry about the hem bind-off being too tight. BTW, when the pattern says “bind off in pattern”, that means to knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.

Neckband

I raised the neckband on this to make it suitable for my nephew, so obviously could not follow the pattern instructions exactly for the neckband. Following are the numbers for how many stitches were picked up (for my size 40.25”):

Back - 39
Left Front - 18
Center Front - 12
Right Front - 18
TOTAL - 87 stitches

Remember that this ribbing pattern is a multiple of (4+3), so keep that in mind when deciding on the total number of stitches to pick up. Also, I always pull my “picked up” sts tight around the cable before knitting the first round. I think this makes a very neat looking neckband. (I did the same thing when picking up stitches for the sleeves.) Alternatively, you can just pick up stitches using a much smaller needle.

After going 8 rounds of the Rib Stitch (described at top of page 2), I bound off using a size 3 needle (1 size smaller) and Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off. This allows the garment to be pulled on over the head easily if you have raised the neckline as I did. I thought that a narrower neckband was more appropriate for a teenage boy. The neckband measured 1-inch wide after bind-off.

Final Measurements:

Shoulder to bottom of hem: 24”
Underarm to bottom of hem: 17”
Sleeve length (from where sts are picked up): 18”

Although I’m very fond of this yarn, I can’t give it 5 stars because I find a lot of joins in each ball and the occasional problem with dye. Stylecraft needs to work on their quality control.

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