18.10.2017

Probably size 7 is for me.
This means
12 50g-skeins for background colour
11 50g-skeins for contrast colour
2 50g-skein for the cuff ends etc
in a yarn with 220 m / 100 g (sport weight)

03.11.2021

Started swatching. I hope the dark blue of my yarn will be visible enough as a contrast colour… The yarn itself is beyond lovely though - buttery soft, and strong nevertheless. It has a nice sheen to it.

I now have learnt that for a swatch, it’s better to use a smaller needle for the garter stitch section at the beginning… It flares horribly!

08.01.2022

Gauge for pattern is supposed to be
24 sts x 32 rows

Pre-wash gauge (in the round),
3,5 mm needles:
25 sts x 26 rounds for 8 cm
this means
31 sts x 32.5 rounds for 10 cm

10.01.2022

Post-wash, 3,5 mm needles:
25 sts x 26 rows for 8 cm

Guess this means swatching again, this time with 4,5 mm needles…

27.02.2022

I started the new swatch with 4,5 mm needles yesterday and I can already say: I like the stitch appearance much better!

Pre-steam, 4,5 mm needles:
25 sts x 29 rounds for 10 cm

01.03.2022

Post-steam, 4,5 needles:
23,5 sts x 30 rounds for 10 cm

Pattern calls for:
24 sts x 32 rounds for 10 cm
But the round gauge is important, for the yoke…

16.05.2022

What I have knitted up to now has a circumference of approx. 117 cm un-washed and un-blocked (final product should have 129.5 cm for size 7). The swatch revealed that it will grow horizontally…

One of my sweaters which fits me and is well worn has a circumference of 111 cm (measured when lying before me. When I wear it, the circumference is 123 cm).
My own chest circumference is 106 cm. My pelvis circumference is 123 cm.

A quick forum search revealed that Kate Davies herself has stated that the sizes stated in the pattern are the sizes of the finished sweater.

Hmmm… I guess size 6 (122 cm stated in pattern, probably a little tighter as I knit it) would have been better and I think about ripping and restarting…

Or - I could also leave it like this and decrease around my waist.

17.05.2022

Okay so size 7 would be right for my pelvis, but size 6 would be better for my chest.

I guess I will give it a go decreasing for my waist then and make an a-line sweater out of it. I think the pattern is so busy that nobody will notice the decreases anyway.

Put in bold so I can find it faster when I return to knitting the torso:
Decreasing from 306 sts (pelvis) to 288 sts (chest). This means 18 sts in total, which is 9 sts on each side. I should have reached the 288 sts after 25 cm, which will probably mean after 75 rounds.

To be able to calculate better, I will make this 4 repeats of the pattern (= 72 rounds). 9 (sts) x 8 = 72 (rounds) - so I have to decrease every 8 rounds.

Oh wait! I already have 18 rounds of the pattern without decreases, so that makes 54 rounds left to be able to reduce the sts from 306 to 288. So 54 / 9 = 6. So I have to decrease every 6 rounds from now on. I hope I will not forget during knitting.

I will place the decreases at the sides, where the arms usually hang over it. I saw another project with a fake seam of three stitches (two dark ones and a light purl stitch in the middle), which is a really elegant idea to incorporate decreases, but too late for me now.

I also want to make a pocket, I really like the idea.

18.05.2022

So - as I know from other projects, many people are saying that the sleeves are a tad too tight:

I have decided that I will make a sleeve first and see how tight that would be. Of course. That is so obviously the best way, to knit a sleeve first…

24.05.2022

So much fun to knit and the yarn is such a pleasure to work with! You never have to worry about long floats, the longest strand is 6 sts in one colour, but that is not a problem whatsoever. I always trap the float after 3 sts because the yarn is not so very clingy due to its nettle component.

28.05.2022

Since someone in the Stranded group here on ravelry pointed out that the green cotton yarn of the provisional cast on looks so good together with the petrol and the grey, I have thought about this a while and will change the orange to apple green! It is a more surprising, unsuspected colour combination than with the orange.

05.06.2022

Okay, so I finished the first sleeve. At first I thought it would be okay and not too tight. On its top, I was still able to put in two fingers alongside the arm without stretching the fabric.

But when I compared it to an older comfy sweater of mine, it’s very visible that it would be better if it was not quite so tight. I see the main problem of tightness here with the underarm, because it’s mainly tight there. Not so much in the upper arm.

So I decided: I will start with more than 54 stitches. I don’t understand why the pattern starts with 54 stitches for the sleeves throughout all sizes. Well yes, I know why Kate Davies did it: Because it’s the exact width of 3 pattern repeats, making the pattern repeats appear to join seamlessly.

But - since you have to increase anyway, and where the increases are, the pattern is not seamless and consistent anyway: You might as well start from the bottom with a break in the pattern repeat! There is no reason to keep the pattern appear seamless, when that is only on the very bottom of the sleeves, if you know what I mean. It will be on the underside of the arm anyway. It is such a busy pattern that probably noone will notice anyway.

I will probably keep the 94 stitches for the top of the sleeves, because that does not look so far away from the sweater I compared the sleeve to. Maybe I will add two or four stitches to the top. But I will definitely distribute the increases differently from the pattern.

05.06.2022

I will add 8 stitches on the start/bottom and will leave the top at 94 stitches. 94 - 62 = 32. Since I want to increase 2 sts at a time, that’s 16 increase rounds.

The round count for size 6 is 101 rounds. So I have to distribute 16 increase rounds in 101 (let’s make it 100) rounds. That’s every 6,25 rounds.

06.06.2022

Comparing the sleeve I already have to yet another garment of mine, my beloved Icebreaker cardigan, I can again see that the tightness so many people seem to describe in their projects is not to be found at the sleeve cap.

So my course of action will be: I will only cast on 4 more stitches at the cuff, because the cuff almost looks fine compared to my Icebreaker cardigan.

Plus, I will increase faster to reach the increases’ maximum earlier. This should make more room for the underarm. On the sleeve cap, there will be a larger part without any increases, just straight knitting.

94 - 58 = 36 sts / 18 increase rounds.
If it’s 101 rounds in total… then I’ll increase until round 63 (in the picture with the black and white Icebreaker cardi, this is approximately where the orange stitch marker is).

So we have 62 rounds for the increases (the first round I don’t count). Means: Increasing every 3,87th round. Let’s make this every 4th round.

07.06.2022

Note to self:
For the adjusted sleeve, I didn’t start with 6 non-increase rounds, but increased after the 4th round as planned.

08.06.2022

Ooook… So I started knitting my sleeve with 58 sts cast on - but I can already say that I would prefer 54 sts, because otherwise it would become too wide.

So I´ll restart with 54 sts and increases as planned, every 4 rounds.

17.08.2022

For the finished sleeve, I have 95 stitches around on top. It has 101 rounds completed, but not the additional rounds to achieve 6.5 cm less than desired length, which I don’t understand, because I don’t know how to determine the desired length, if I don’t know where on my body the join of sleeves and torso is to be made?

For the sleeve currently on the needles, I reached completion of increases / 94 sts after 81 rounds.

19.08.2022

The desired length refers to the sizing table in the pattern of course. So you take the size you’re knitting (in my case 6) and see what the sizing table says how long the sleeve length from underarm should be for that size.

So. For the washed object I need 50 cm length, minus the 6,5 cm for the cuffs which will be added afterwards. Resulting in 43,5 cm.

For 101 rounds in the unwashed object, I have 38 cm now.

If 10 cm are 30 rounds in the washed and blocked gauge swatch, then 40 cm are 120 rounds. Add 10 rounds for 3 cm. Plus 2 rounds for 0,5 cm.That would mean I would need 132 rounds for the desired sleeve length of 43,5 cm in the washed object (excluding the cuff).

29.08.2022

In the washed & blocked sleeve (properly, on the jumper board), I have:

22,5 sts x 28 (sometimes 27) rounds

21.09.2022

Okay, so finally I had time to put some brain works into this. I have made a comparison (see in the photos) between Kate´s stated sizes 5 and 6 along with a well-worn and perfectly fitting knitted jumper of mine (shop-bought, the yarn used not too thin, because the berry-coloured jumper was too thin in comparison) and the pre- and post-washed sleeves.

I now suspect that a size 5 would be perfectly sufficient. If at all, I could start with size 6 for the torso and decrease to size 5 for the chest area afterwards.

Guess this means frogging the sleeves.

I have reviewed all of this, because when I put on the already-knitted, washed and blocked sleeves, they are a little too roomy for my taste. And yes, it was a lot of work, but since it is the very first jumper for myself, I want to know what to expect - because nothing worse than having to frog a colourwork sweater. Especially with steeks involved! Or going the whole way and in the end realizing that all that work was for nothing and it doesn´t fit.

I will frog the existing sleeves, but at a later state - for now, I will start another sleeve with new balls of yarn

07.10.2022

For size 5 I need 90 sts total, which means increasing 18x. As a reminder, I started with 4 rounds and 54 sts before the first increase and increased consistently every 4 rounds to become wider faster, otherwise the sleeve would be slightly too tight around the lower arms / elbow area.

I have knit with 4.5 mm needles.

25.10.2022

(Size 5)
After increasing on 90 sts (that’s increasing 18 times btw) I have 78 rounds (I should have 75 but oh well).

I calculated that to get the desired 42 cm, I would need 94 rounds (with the knowledge of my previous pre- and post-washed sleeves. (For size 5, the total of rounds after all increases is 72 rounds - before simply continuing in the round to get the desired length.)

Turns out my calculation is not true. I have 38 cm with 98 rounds (post-wash). For 42 cm post-wash I would need 108 rounds then. So another 10 rounds to go.

I don’t want to make the sleeves too short because as I have learnt for a good fit it’s important that the sleeve openings should be quite close to the armpits / not too wide.

29.12.2022

So I restarted the body:

288 sts (size 6) plus 6 sts extra for fake seam, the pattern starts at the front sts for the left underarm. Fake seam consists of 1 k (dark), 1 p (light), 1 k (dark).

2 sts for fake seam
8 sts for left underarm (half of the sts that are being held by waste yarn later)
127 sts for front
8 sts for right underarm (front)
3 sts for fake seam (fake seam starts at st 145 of the round)
9 sts for right underarm (back)
127 sts for back
9 sts for left underarm (back)
1 st for fake seam

are
294 sts (288 sts + 6 extra)

To decrease 18 sts to 270 sts (+ 6 sts) for size 5 after 26 cm (65 rounds), I will decrease 2 sts in round 8 and 4 sts for four times every 14 rounds after that.

05.02.2023

I have knit the body 6 repeats and 14 rounds, making it 122 rounds. It has a pre-blocked length of 47 cm.

23.03.2023

I realized that not matching the row gauge means that my yoke is taller than what is required in the pattern - resulting in the opening of the hoodie starting too far up, almost in the middle of my neck. So I had to rip out the last 20 rounds and reknit 10 rounds, making decreases in every round.

27.04.2023

The Onion yarn with its nettle component is not very suited for needlefelting, apparently - when I started to pick up stitches for the corrugated ribbing on the hood, the half stitches on the edge of the steek started to deteriorate quickly, even though the area looked well felted.

So I used my sewing machine to secure the steek further. See photos for that. The newspaper I put underneath because then the needle doesn´t push the fabric down (like it often does with jersey fabric) and causing the fabric to ripple. Afterwards you can simply peel it off carefully. I sewed over everything twice.

Also, the raglan decreases where I decreased twice as fast are pulled open more than where I decreased every other round, so I will have to fix that by stitching it close from the inside.

21.05.2023

I finally have all of the sts of the body from the provisional CO back on the needles.

It’s 295 sts now, I haven’t a clue where the additional st comes from.

Anyway, to have a number dividable by four, I will decrease 3 sts somewhere (73 x 4 = 292 sts).

07.06.2023

17 rounds for the cuff.

15.06.2023

I have weighed the jumper so far (with hood but without the cangaroo pouch I’m planning to add).

I weighs about 750 g.

I’d say the hood alone will probably be 150 g, one fifth of the whole jumper.

The cangaroo pouch will be 99 stitches wide, plus 7 steek stitches (106 sts in total).

I will knit 16 rounds, plus one plain round directly after the cast on.
Then binding off 4 sts on either side of the steek sts.
For 4 rounds, decreasing 2 sts in every round.
Then for 10 rounds, decreasing 2 sts every other round.
I have decreased 13 sts on either side then (26 sts in total).
Then knitting 19 rounds without decreases.

So far what I’ve planned. We’ll see how it goes!

18.06.2023

Because I wanted to bind off four stitches on either side of the steek sts, I decided to bind off the steek sts completely after the last st before the steek sts (otherwise the last st of the round / before the steek stitches would not have been possible to bind off), cut the yarn, and restart the steek anew with the upper half of the cangaroo pouch.

07.07.2023

The washed and blocked sweater has a gauge of

25 sts x 27 rds for 10 cm

09.07.2023

Finally, the decorative borders for the cangaroo pouch are finished too. I have picked up and knit in petrol according to Suzanne Bryan’s tutorial. Then I knitted 3 rounds in corrugated ribbing, which was weird to knit back and forth, because I had to remember to keep the strands on the wrong side of the work.

Now I am thinking about securing the steek borders by adding woven tape, but I’m not sure yet. I could imagine that it protects the steek borders when I slip my hands in and out of the pouch.

Unfortunately I didn’t know that I should knit the raglan decreases very firmly, so whenever I tried the sweater on, they would open up and look horrible. So I also fixed that by sewing them close with the dark yarn from the inside.

Whew. I have to say. There is a lot of work hours in this sweater indeed, and it’s still not finished…

13.07.2023

I´ve weighed the yarn I have left:

Petrol that´s left = 118 g + approx. 110 g for the dismissed sleeves and torso = 228 g

Dark blue that´s left = 220 g + approx. 87 g for the dismissed sleeves and torso = 307 g

Orange that´s left = 39 g

The finished sweater should weigh (372 g + 243 g + 61 g =) 676 g.

It´s so weird that the sweater weighs more than my calculations say.

As expected, the sweater has become a little wider by being dressed on the jumper board. The colourwork has become nice and flat. It is now not too wide, but comfortable (un-washed it was a bit tight).

31.07.2023

And finally it´s finished!

In retrospect, the kangaroo pouch really was a lot of work, compared to the rest of the jumper. With the ribbon to cover the steeks where I slip my hands in, the corrugated ribbing in different colours, and the sewing on. I don´t know if I would do it again, but right now I´m so happy that I did! It fits perfectly.