I love contiguous patterns, and this is one of them, except for one small grafted seam in the hood. It’s one of the cutest hoody sweater patterns I’ve seen, and quite easy to make. The only slightly tricky part is the stitch used for the empire waistband. Be sure to put in a lifeline before you start this part. There are no youtube videos showing how to do this exact stitch, but after a couple of tries, I figured out how to do it. I didn’t have to contact the designer regarding how to do this stitch, but Tina Good is extremely helpful if you have any questions about this darling pattern.

I knitted this size 6 as a pattern test for Tina. Following are some comments I had for her:

1. At the “Increasing for Skirt” portion of the pattern, there was a fairly substantial discrepancy in the number of stitches that I had on my needles and the number that the pattern said I should have at this point. I don’t think I made any mistakes, so don’t be alarmed if you end up with less stitches here when knitting the size 6 (and possibly other sizes). This discrepancy didn’t seem to affect the overall appearance of the garment. And of course, there’s always the possibility that I made a mistake, though I couldn’t see any.

2. I would have preferred that the empire waist stitches not pull in the sweater quite as much. My niece isn’t cubby, but it fits her now, and she’s not even 5 years old yet. Next time I’ll use 1 or 2 sizes larger needles JUST when doing this empire waist part. The alternative is to knit this part much looser. The pattern didn’t say to do that, so I just knit at a regular tension. Tina said she will likely add my suggestion in future revisions to the pattern.

3. Although it looks okay, I wasn’t crazy about the way the hem part of the front band looks. The pattern didn’t say to slip any stitches at the beginning or end of rows for the front band. However, when I make this again (and I’m sure I will), I’m going to try and come up with an alternative for the bottom edge of the front band so that it looks more like the lovely, smooth cast-off edge of the sweater hem. I don’t like seeing the purly bumps on the bottom edges.

4. The sleeves seem too long for a size 6. I followed the pattern directions exactly, measuring 11.5 inches (for size 6) from the underarm to the point where the moss stitch cuff begins. This isn’t a big deal. I simply turned up the cuffs until Abby grows a bit. I rather like the way they look rolled up. And then she can turn them down when she’s 6 or 7 years old. I think that Tina may have intentionally made the sleeves long. I noticed that in her own pictures (Ravelry pages), none of the children’s hands are showing beneath the sleeves.

5. The pattern calls for “Aran” weight yarn with a gauge of 4.5 sts per inch (10 cm) and size 7 (US) needles. This seems impossible to achieve, though I have seen some aran weight yarns from England that are actually what I would call DK weight. I used Vanna’s Choice yarn which is considered a “worsted” weight. With size 7 (US) needles, my gauge was 4 sts per inch (10 cm). This didn’t bother me, because I actually wanted the sweater to be slightly larger for growing room. Strangely, it didn’t end up being larger. In fact, the finished empire waistline (at empire stitch band) measures about 23 inches/58.4 cm (including the moss stitch edging) which isn’t terribly large for a size 6. Fortunately, it will fit Abby just fine. She will be 5 years old on 7/1/13. The chest and skirt part have plenty of ease, so no worries there. Tina and I were discussing yarn weights, and we both agree that acrylic worsted weight yarns tend to be considerably thicker than what is called “worsted” in natural fiber yarns. This is probably why I was unable to achieve gauge using the needle size suggested by the pattern. The normal needle size used for Vanna’s Choice yarn is size 9 (US). I wouldn’t use anything smaller than the size 7 (US) for this yarn, or the garment will be too stiff. The size 7 needles that I used resulted in a very dense knitted fabric that will be very effective in keeping out the cold.

6. Hood: When you get to the part after the increases, it says to “continue to work in stockinette stitch … until work measures 11 inches” (for size 6). By “work”, Tina means the entire hood from the neck edge.

7. The pattern calls for a couple of different circular needle lengths - one of which is 32 inches. I do all my circular knitting using Cat Bordhi’s method of knitting with TWO circular needles. I find that 29 inches (74 cm) works for almost any project from tiny to quite large, and the two 29-inch long needles worked just fine for me on this project. I used one needle for the right side of the front band (116 sts for my size 6 sweater), and another identical 29-inch long needle for the left side of the front band (another 116 sts). This totals 58 inches of knitting needles (straight knitting for the front band), handling all 232 stitches. Two 29-inch long circular needles should work just fine, even when I do the front band of the adult size. I even used the two 29-inch needles to knit the sleeves in the round. The size 2 DPNs are only required for the i-cord button loops. Everyone has their own preferences for knitting in the round. The only reason that I mention this is because sometimes the longer length knitting needles are difficult to find at retail stores, whereas 29-inch length is readily available. So if you want to try knitting the adult version of this sweater, and you can’t find a 60-inch long circular needle at Michael’s or Jo-Ann, you can substitute two 29-inch long circular needles. They will work just fine.

Using wash-and-wear yarn is a huge plus for a child of this age. I adore this heather green color, and many of the tweedy Vanna’s Choice yarn colorways. Also, Lion Brand has donated over $900,000 of the proceeds from the sale of this popular yarn to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Acrylic is certainly not my favorite yarn, but sometimes it just makes sense. I had to use a thimble on my index finger to get the yarn to slide on my metal needles without poking/hurting my finger. At first, this was awkward, but I quickly got used to it. This was only necessary because I was knitting with size 7 (US) needles rather than the size 9 recommended for this weight yarn. I was unable to buy 7 balls of yarn with the same dye lot. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be noticeable with this green heathered color.

I finished the sweater on Easter Sunday in time to give it to Abby Rose. I wanted to purchase wooden toggle buttons, but since all the stores were closed on Easter, I had to use several buttons from my stash. They looked fine, but I would have preferred the toggle buttons or something in wood.