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by Wendy D Johnson

Have you always wanted to knit a Norwegian-style sweater but had misgivings about trying some of the techniques used? Here is a relatively easy baby sweater you can try. It employs the traditional knitting and construction techniques but it's small with a simple colorwork chart so it'll knit up pretty quickly.

The model was knitted using fingering weight superwash wool - Dale of Norway Baby Ull - but you could knit this with any smooth yarn that has the same gauge: acrylic, cotton, or wool blends. You can also easily change the colorway: I've used cream and two shades of green, but you could use white/cream with two shades of pink, or two shades of blue just as easily.

Still not sure you want to commit to a sweater with Norwegian steeks? Fear not! See my article on steeking in this issue.

 

photo: Wendy D Johnson

SIZE
S[M, L]
 
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Chest: 24[25.5, 27] inches
Length: 11.75[13, 14] inches

 

MATERIALS

Dale Baby Ull [100% wool, 192 yards/50 gram skein];
MC1: Cream [#0020]; 4[5, 5] skeins
CC1: Light Green [#8523]; 1[1, 1] skein
CC2: Dark Green [#7854]; 1[1, 1] skein

16- or 24-inch circular needles in size US #0/2.0mm
16- or 24-inch circular needles in size US #1/3.0mm [or size to get gauge]
1 set dpns in size US#0/2.0mm
1 set dpns in size US#1/3.0mm

GAUGE

32 stitches/ 38 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch with larger needles

 
DIRECTIONS

Note: chart links will take you to a PDF file. You'll need the free Acrobat reader to view the charts. Get it here.

Body [knitted in the round in one piece]
With smaller circular needle and MC, CO 198[210, 218] stitches.
Join, being careful not to twist stitches.
Place a marker at the beg of the rnd and after st 99[105, 109].
Work St st [K every row] for 1 inch to create a facing.
P 1 rnd for the fold line.
Work Chart A, beginning the pattern as indicated on the graph for your size.
When you reach the end of the chart, you will be at the side marker.
Start the pattern over again from the beginning of the chart, work to the end of the rnd.
When you have completed Chart A, change to the larger circular needle.
Work St st with MC until the body measures 6[6.75, 7.75] inches from the fold line.
Begin Chart B, beginning the pattern as indicated on the graph for your size, work to the end of the chart for your size [at the side marker], repeat the chart for the back.
When you have completed Chart B, work Chart C in the same manner.
When you have completed Chart C, work until the body measures 10.25[11.25, 12.25] inches from the fold line.

Front neck shaping
Work the first 42[44, 46] sts, cast off the next 15[17, 17] sts, then work to the end of the rnd. 183[193, 201] sts remain.
Break off yarn and move the left front shoulder sts from the left needle to right needle. Reattach yarn and begin working back and forth.
BO 3[4, 4] stitches at the beg of the next 2 rows, then 2 sts at the beg of the next 4 rows, then 1 st at the beg of the next 6 rows.
At the same time, when the body measures 11.5[12.5, 13.5] inches, shape the back neck.

Back neck shaping
BO the center 29[31, 33] sts of the back for the neck opening and work to the end of the row.
Working each side of the body separately, BO 2 stitches at the neck edge on every other row twice.
Work until the body measures 11.75[13, 14] inches and BO all sts.
Complete the other side to match.

Sleeves
With smaller dpns and MC, CO 45[49, 49] sts.
Join, place marker, and work in the round in St st for 1 inch, then P 1 rnd for the fold line.
Work Chart A, placing the center stitch of the graph at the center of the sleeve.
K 1 rnd with MC, inc 14[14, 16] sts evenly over the sleeve for a total of 59[63, 65] sts.
Change to larger dpns and continue to work in St st with MC.
Inc 1 st at the beg and end of every 3rd rnd 14[17, 20] times, leaving 2 sts between increase stitches until you have a total of 87[97, 105] sts.
At the same time, when the sleeve measures 6.25[7.5, 8.5] inches from the fold line, work Chart B, placing the center stitch of the graph at the center stitch of the sleeve, working any increases into the pattern.
When Chart B is complete, work 2 rnds in MC.
P 6 rnds in MC for facing and BO all.
Make the second sleeve the same as the first.

FINISHING
Setting in sleeves
Lightly steam the body and the sleeves.
Lay the sleeves flat and measure the depth just inside the purl facing.
Mark the armhole depth on the body and put a pin at the point where the sleeve will end.
Put another pin in the same spot on the other side.
Next, create the steeks by stitching the body in each armhole area using a sewing machine.
Sew two rows of machine stitching down each side, across the bottom, and up the other side of the four-stitch wide area of each armhole steek.
With a sharp pair of scissors, carefully cut open your armhole in the center between the two rows of stitching.
Stop cutting just before the turned stitching at the bottom.
Be careful not to cut into the machine stitching.
Sew your shoulder seams together and then set in the sleeves.
Pin the sleeve into the armhole and sew the sleeve in from the right side, making sure that the machine-stitching on the body is inside the seam.
On the sleeve, sew through the last stitch before the purl facing, keeping the facings on the inside.
Sew the facings down invisibly on the inside.
Steam press the armhole seams and the facings.

Neckband
With dpns in smaller size and MC, start at one shoulder seam and pick up 8 sts per inch around the neck edge.
Join and work in the round.
K 1 rnd in MC.
K next rnd in CC2.
K next rnd in MC.
K next rnd in CC1. [Complete the neckband in MC.]
K 4 rnds, then p 1 rnd for the fold line. K 8 rnds and BO all.
Fold the neckband facing to the inside and sew down invisibly.

Sleeve and body hems
Fold the bottom and sleeve facings to the inside and sew down invisibly.
Weave in all loose ends and steam press the hems and sleeve seams.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Wendy Johnson has been knitting for as long as she can remember.

You can learn more than you ever wanted to know about her knitting projects by visiting her knitting blog at wendyknits.net.

Pattern & images © 2003 Wendy D Johnson. Contact Wendy.