Here is my last knitting love… the “Green or Purple or Both” Jumper I just finished and put up on my ravelry page:
I made it up while knitting, as I usually do (this is one of the things I love about knitting a garment that is knit top-down: You try it on and think… “hey, why not put some narrower stripes around the high waist to accentuate it”? and then when making the sleeves it occurs to you that the same stripes on the same height but in reverse colours would be an even better idea!!!)
Anyway, I used the “classic top-down set-in sleeve sweater formula” that I found in Wendy Bernard’s book custom knits. I really like her method, since it allows you to try it on while you work and you usually end up with perfect set-in sleeves and a very well fitting jumper (or cardigan)!
I thought about writing a pattern for this jumper, but alas! I neither have the patience nor the time to make calculations for different sizes and stuff…
So I thought that I might just write down my notes for my own jumper (this would be for an ample size Small) and if you really want to adjust it to any other size you just make the calculations yourself (and you would have the advantage to actually be able to try it on and see how it goes!).
So here we go:
First of all I need to give you the size of the finished jumper: it measures 43,5cm across the bust, 42cm at the waist, 46cm at the bottom, 33cm across the shoulder, it is 54,5cm long (from shoulder to bottom) and the sleeves are 44cm long. (all measurements are taken with the garment lying flat and unstretched).
I used DK weight cotton (about 400 yards of white and 420 yards of a variegated colour) and a 4mm circular needle for the main parts and a 3mm circular needle for the ribbing of the sleeves.
My gauge was 24sts x 28 rows for 10x10cm with the 4mm needle.
With this specific method you start knitting the back with a provisional cast on till you reach the armholes. Then you make the fronts by picking up the stitches from your provisional cast on. You have to make each front separately till you reach the point where the neckline closes, which is after the armholes in this specific pattern. So you knit first the back to the armholes, then one front to the armholes, then the other front again to the armholes and then you put all together on your circular needle and knit back and forth till you finish the neckline. Only then everything is knitted in the round and you continue till the bottom of your jumper.
So. Let’s start with the details:
For the back I made a provisional Cast On with 68sts in white and worked straight in stockinette stitch to about 5 inches (about 35 rows) while keeping a stripe pattern of 4 rows white and 2 rows in my variegated yarn.
Then I started with the armhole increases (on RS rows only) and increased 1 sts at each side (k2, m1L, knit… till last 2 sts, m1R, k2) till 10 sts were added on each side.
Then after 1 purl row I casted on 3 sts at each side on the next RS row and finished with a WS row. At this point all the stitches are put on waste yarn.
Now we make the first front: Pick up 6 sts at the top right end of your provisional cast on and start with a WS row. Continue in the stripe pattern and knit 3 rows, then increase 1 sts at the neckline every 4th row (knit till last 2 sts, m1R, k2) on RS rows only, till 12 sts have been added. Then increase every 2nd row till 3 more sts have been added. (and don’t forget to increase also for the armhole increases like you did on the back after 5 inches). When you have done to the cast on sts of the armhole and the last WS row as you made for the back, you put the first front on waist yarn and start over with the other front by following the same instructions on the other side of the provisional cast on (keep in mind that the neckline increases will be on the other side this time: k2, m1L knit to end).
When you have done the back and both fronts you put all the stitches from the waist yarn on one long circular needle and you continue to knit back and forth in the stripe pattern. To hide the jump of the colour changes it would be a good idea to make “false seams” on each side under the armholes: just purl one stitch at each centre of your armhole, even if it is not yet the beginning of our row. We still need to finish up the neckline, so you have to follow the next instructions on the beginning and the end of your rows: You continue to increase every 2nd row 2 times (in this case it would be the first row after putting the back and the two fronts together and the next RS row after that). And then you continue to increase 1 sts on the neckline on every row (RS and WS) for 6 more rows (to make m1L and m1R on the purl sides you might want to check out the end of the page).
Now we can close our neckline by casting on 10 sts and closing in the round. To get our yarn to the side of our jumper (so that the stripe changes will be less visible) I just do the following: After casting on the 10 sts I just slip every stitch till I reach the side (the first purl sts under the armhole). I now cut the yarn, put a marker before the purl sts and start knitting from my new beginning of the round.
Now we just continue knitting in our stripe pattern for 12 cm, where we’ll beginn the waist shaping of the jumper: p1,k3, k2tog, knit till last 5 sts before purl sts, ssk, k3, p1, k3, k2tog, knit till last 5 sts before marker, ssk, k3. You repeat this decrease row after 10 more rounds one more time. If you too want to make the narrower stripes at the high waist, you’ll have to change the stripe pattern just after the first decrease row: after knitting the variegated stripe normally for 2 rounds you knit 2 rounds of white instead of 4 rounds and 2 rounds in the variegated yarn till you have three narrow stripes of variegated yarn and two in white, then you continue with the same stripe pattern as before (4 rows white, 2 rows variegated). Look at the pictures, it sounds much more complicated than it is!
After 19 cm from the armhole we start increasing: p1, k3, m1L, knit till last 3 sts before purl sts, m1R, k3, p1, k3, m1L, knit ill last 3 sts before marker, m1R, k3. Repeat this increase round every 10 rounds 3 times more.
After that I just continued to knit in pattern for 5,5 cm more and then started the ribbing, but it would be a good idea for you to try the jumper on to see what length you would like it to have. I did a 4knit 2 purl rib for 10 rounds and bound off loosely (but not too loose!).
Now to the neckline:
I undid the provisional cast on at the back and put all sts on the 4mm long circular needle, then I picked up 3 out of 4 sts on the sides and the 10 cast on sts at the center of the neckline. It would be a good idea to put markers at each “corner” (the two edges on the shoulder and the two edges of the 10 cast on sts at the centre front) because we will decrease there to make the neckline sit flat.
You start knitting at the top left of your jumper (the right shoulder). You knit the first round where you k2tog the two sts at the top left shoulder, then ssk the two sts at the first front-neck corner, k2tog the two on the next front-neck corner and ssk the last 2 sts at the top right shoulder of the back. Then you knit the next round till two sts before the last marker (the one on the top right shoulder), you wrap & turn your work and start your short rows by purling back till 2 sts before the marker of the other shoulder. Wrap & turn your work and knit back (while decreasing again at the front neck). This time you warp & turn your work when you reach 4 sts before your wrapped sts (7 sts before the marker) and you wrap & turn again and purl back till 4 sts before the other wrapped sts. Now you make the last wrap & turn and you knit (while again decreasing at front neck) till the starting marker of the round. After knitting one round and hiding any remaining wraps you cast off with an i-cord bind off.
Short-row set-in sleeves:
To make this kind of sleeves you’ll need your circular needle and 6 markers in 3 colours. First you look at your armhole: put a marker on the top of the shoulder (where the provisional cast on was) and one of the same colour on the bottom of the armhole (where your purl stitch is) and then you put a marker of another colour at the point where you started the underarm increases. You do the same on the other other side in a marker of the same colour (these would be our markers A). Now you have to start picking up stitches in the variegated yarn all around the armhole. I use the 3mm needle just for picking up sts since it makes them smaller and more invisible. Start at the bottom armhole marker and pick up 15 sts till you get to the first marker A (the first sts is in the purl row and the next 3 sts are picked up from the cast on sts, you then pick up one sts out of two rows till you make all 15 sts to the marker A). Then you continue in the same fashion till the top marker and you pick up 16 more stitches. You now repeat the same process on the other side: 16 sts between top marker and marker A and 15 sts between marker A and bottom sts. Now you have 2 more markers of another colour to put in: you count 5 sts from the left and the right of your top marker and you position your markers at these points (these would be markers B). You have all in all 62 sts on your sleeve.
Now you change your needle to a 4mm circular and with magic loop you start knitting from the bottom marker up around the armhole, slipping one marker A, one marker B, the top marker and when you arrive at your second marker B you slip this one too and you wrap the next sts. Turn the work and purl back to the other marker B. Slip this marker too and wrap the next sts and turn. You now knit back again to the other side till 1 stitch beyond the previous wrap sts. You wrap this one too and turn your work again. Continue working short rows and taking 1 more stitch form each side before making your turn till you reach your markers A on both sides (dont forget to hide each wrapped stitch as you come to it). You are knitting your sleeve-cap with short rows in this way and when you get to your markers A you have completed your sleeve-cap and you can continue knitting in the round to make the whole sleeve. For this you work the final right side row across the remaining underarm stitches and you continue working the sleeve normally in the round (you can take all markers out except the one that marks the beginning of your row, the bottom marker).
After completing the sleeve-cap knit 3 rounds and then begin with sleeve shaping: We make the first decrease round here: k1, k2tog, knit till 3 sts before marker, ssk, k1. repeat this decrease round every 6th round 3 times more (you should have 54 sts in the end). If you prefer bigger sleeves you can decrease less times. Just try it out too see what you like!
29 rounds after the last decrease round you can put in the 3 white stripes by changing the colour every 2 rows. Then, 16 rounds after your last colour change you change your needle back to 3mm and you can finish the sleeve with a k2, p2 rib for 30 rounds and bind off. (note that with 54 sts you will have 2knit sts at the beginning and at the end of each round, resulting in 4 knit sts in a row. I don’t have a problem with that, but if you do you should probably decrease 2 sts more before beginning with the ribbing).
Repeat the same steps for the other sleeve and you are done!
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Purl M1L
To create an M1L purl stitch, you work between the two stitches formed directly below the current row. Do this by first beginning a row and purling one or two stitches. Then spread your knitting apart by pulling slightly so you can see the stitches below. Lift the strand of yarn between those two stitches by inserting the left needle into the stitch from the front of your knitting. Insert the right needle into the back of this newly created loop from left to right and purl the stitch. You have increased the row by one stitch.
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Purl M1R
To create an M1R purl stitch, purl to the last two stitches in a row. Then spread your knitting apart by pulling slightly so you can see the stitches below. Lift the strand between the stitches by inserting the left needle into the stitch from the back of your knitting. This results in a snug loop. Carefully insert the right needle into this loop and purl it as if it were a stitch.
