The name is from an old joke about a snail who drives a sports car decorated with “S’s” (S-Car-Go/escargot). Because a snail could have knitted this faster than I did.

Stitch/row counts & measurements in notes below - I worked from the Charmed Knits book (same as the Canadian Living online pattern) NOT the blog version (i.e. worsted wt. gauge, NOT DK).

Aug.-Sept. 2011 - knit back and part of front to the first few rows of the “S” monogram. Disliked how it looked, so I swatched the monogram. Really disliked it. Put it aside to work on the chart. Went into hibernation.

Feb. 1, 2016 - revived. Charted and swatched and charted and swatched. Considered re-naming her something starting with an “I” or “T” or “L” - anything but an “S” or other curvy letter. Decided it was too late to re-name an almost 20 y.o. Sigh. Realized my gauge had changed over the years, so I started the whole sweater from the beginning. Frogged all the previous work. From this point, it was 5 weeks to finish knitting all the pieces, and then a further 2 weeks before I had a chance to wet block and seam it.

Gauge - Could not get stitch and row gauge to match instructions. On 5 mm needles - 18 st. x 25 rows. I could have cast on 90 st. for the back, instead of 82, but didn’t want to do the extra work of even a few more stitches per row after frogging half the sweater. So I used 5.5 mm. - 16 st. x 22 rows. Bonus - The bigger row gauge wasn’t an issue with this kind of shapeless construction and meant finishing each piece quicker (fewer rows needed). I preferred the thicker density and weight on the 5.0 mm needles - lovely fabric - but “completion is better than perfection” at this point.

Back - CO 82, 140 rows (for 26 inches), then shaped shoulders over 2 rows as per pattern. Shoulder st. kept live on holders for 3-needle bindoff.

Front - CO 82, worked 70 rows, placed LIFELINE, worked 2 more rows (13.5 inches), then started Intarsia chart for 34 rows, then continued for another 15 rows before shaping neck for 20 rows. Shoulder st. kept live on holders for 3-needle bindoff. N.B. If using longer 40-row monogram chart, start it earlier - at about the 65th row - to avoid crowding the neckline with the intarsia colourwork.

Feb. 21 - Wove in ends on front and back. The intarsia ends took forever. Wet blocked the separate front and back pieces. Worth doing at this point because it made picking up stitches for the neck and sleeves much easier.

Shoulders - seamed using 3-needle bind-off.

Sleeves - Went down one size, used instructions for Adult Small. On both front and back, from shoulder measured 10 inches, i.e. 56 rows, and picked up 80 stitches. Worked as per pattern for 99 rows (18 inches), then switched to 5 mm for cuff for K2P2 for 12 rows (2.25 inches). Still too big - should have measured 9 inches and picked up 72 stitches.

Neck - on 5 mm circular needles, pick up 80 st. It seemed too loose and wide, so I used ktbl for the shoulder/side stitches to tighten it up a little there.
Row 1 - K32, ktbl x 16 st., K16, ktbl x 16 st.
Work 14 more rows of regular knit stitches. JSSBO to finish.

Wet blocked again so that the sleeves would seam nicely. Definitely worthwhile, for all the reasons that make blocking a smart and sensible thing to do for a good finished project.

Side and sleeve seams - mattress stitch

Monogram - Chart used is 22 st. x 34 rows.
I have also included a photo of a larger chart of 22 st. x 40 rows. I really liked the swatch but it was a little too big for the sweater. N.B. If using longer 40-row monogram chart, start it earlier - at about the 65th row - to avoid crowding the neckline with the intarsia colourwork.

N.B. The lifeline was a real lifesaver because even after swatching the monogram, I had to frog back at least once when working it on the front piece.

A note/warning about the Rowan Felted Tweed Aran. I have now used it in 3 colourways for different projects - at least 18 skeins. Only a few of them weighed a full 50 g, most were light by 1 or 2 g., some as much as 4 g (that’s 8% and that’s a heckuva margin of error). NONE were over, so the irregularity never fell in my favour. If chosen, BUY EXTRA!!!!!