by Amy R Singer
&
Theresa Vinson Stenersen
&
If
you've ever been in a yarn shop and seen a particular
yarn displayed in a variety of gorgeous hues and
loved all the colors together, you understand
the reason for Sweetness.
This
happened to Amy, deep in the Canadian winter.
She called upon her friend in Norway, who happens
to be an aspiring knitwear designer. As if by
magic, it turns out that Theresa had her own
colorful stash of the yarn in question. So a
transatlantic design project was born.
Sweetness
is a simple raglan-sleeved pullover offered
in two flavors with almost no finishing - it's
worked in one piece, in the round. Very cool.
The key to keeping the colors visually manageable
is to have the yoke, sleeves and neck in one
solid color. Then choose your favorites from
the available palette and go nuts with the stripes.
Theresa striped hers in lovely regular intervals;
Amy's is erratic, just like she is.
The
sweater really is a mellow project; the tangy
part is in the underarm finishing. It's only
7 stitches. You can do it.
|
models:
[top]
Amy
[bottom]
Theresa
photos: their respective spouses
Amy shot on location at La Tea Da, 2305 Queen
Street East, Toronto.
Theresa shot on location in glorious thawing
Norway. |
SIZE |
S[M,
L, XL] |
|
FINISHED
MEASUREMENTS |
Chest:
36 [42, 46, 52] inches
Length: 21 [22, 23, 24] inches |
|
MATERIALS |
Both
sweaters were knit in Idena Cotton Big Sport
[65% cotton, 35% acrylic; 80m per 100g skein].
Colors below:
Amy's periwinkle boatneck
[MC] color: #236 [periwinkle]; 6 [6, 7, 8] skeins
[CC1] color: #187 [orchid]; 1, [1, 1, 2] skeins
[CC2] color: #198 [purple]; 1, [1, 1, 2] skeins
[CC3] color: #299 [aqua]; 1, [1, 1, 2] skeins
[CC4] color: #009 [white]; 1, [1, 1, 2] skeins
Theresa's
aqua mock turtleneck
[MC] color: #299 [aqua]; 6 [6, 7, 8] skeins
[CC1] color: #492 [green]; 1, [1, 1, 2] skeins
[CC2] color: #198 [purple]; 1, [1, 1, 2] skeins
[CC3] color: #236 [periwinkle]; 1, [1, 1, 2]
skeins
[CC4] color: #009 [white]; 1, [1, 1, 2] skeins
Notions
for both designs
1 set US #10/6 OR 6.5mm double-point needles
1 16-inch US #10/6 or 6.5mm circular needle
1 30-inch US #10/6 or 6.5mm circular needle
stitch holders [or spare yarn]
stitch markers [or spare yarn]
darning needle |
GAUGE |
12
sts/18 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch
Note: Theresa used a 6mm needle to get
this gauge; Amy used a 6.5mm.
SWATCH FIRST!
|
|
DIRECTIONS |
Sleeves
Using DPNs, co 24 [27, 33, 36].
Divide sts evenly over 4 needles.
Place marker and join [being careful not
to twist work] and work in k2, p1 rib for
2 [2.5 , 3, 3.5 ] inches. Change to St st
and inc 1 st on either side of marker every
2 [ 1.5, 1.5, 1] inches for a total of 8
increases. 40[43, 49, 52] sts on needles.
Note: Change to 16-inch
circular needle when there are enough sts
to work comfortably.
When work measures 16.5[17, 17.5, 18] inches,
knit to 3 sts beyond the marked st, then
slip the last 7 sts worked onto a piece
of contrasting yarn.
Put remaining sts on a stitch holder, a
length of spare thread or spare circular
needle of any size; break yarn leaving a
12-inch tail and repeat for other sleeve.
|
|
chart
a |
chart
b |
Body
CO 108[124, 140, 156] sts using
30-inch circular needle.
Place marker to indicate beg of the round
[marker A], join [being careful not to twist
work], and work in k2, p1 rib for 54[62,
70, 78] sts. Place another marker [marker
B] to indicate the opposite side; it will
be easier to differentiate the two markers
if they are different colors. Continue in
k2, p1 ribbing until piece measures 2[2.5,
3, 3.5] inches.
Working
stripes as indicated by chart A, B or your
own mood, switch to St st and work until
body measures 15[16, 17, 18] inches from
cast on edge.
Join
arms to body
Join
MC to body and k 1 rnd.
K to 4 sts past marker A, then slip the
last 7 sts worked to a spare length of yarn.
Cont in St st until 4 sts past marker B,
then place the last 7 sts worked onto a
holder and complete the round.
At this point, you will have 47[55, 63,
71] sts each for the front and back and
33[36, 42, 45] for each sleeve. 7 sts are
held on spare yarn at each underarm and
at the top of each sleeve. These sets of
7 sts will be lined up with each other as
you join the arms to the body and grafted
together during finishing.
Attach first sleeve by knitting the 33[36,
41, 45] sleeve sts onto the same circular
needle as the body sts. Every time you come
to the 7 held sts, just leave them hanging
inside the work. You'll deal with them later.
Continue in St st until you come to the
second set of sts held on spare yarn and
attach the second sleeve in the same manner.
Finish round.
Work in St st over all 160[182, 208, 232]
sts for 4 rounds, placing markers at each
of the four points where body and sleeve
sts meet.
NOTES:
If you use a different colored marker for
Marker 1 and place it just BEFORE the set
of underarm stitches, the beginning of your
rounds will be easy to find.
The first few rounds after you've joined
the pieces will be a bit tight and awkward
to knit, but it will soon right itself.
Begin
raglan decreases
Rnd 1: From marker 1: k1, k2tog,
then *k to 3 sts before next marker, ssk,
k1, slip marker, k1, k2tog* repeat at 3rd
and 4th marker, knit to 3 sts before marker
1, ssk, k1.
Rnd 2: K around with no decreasing.
For
Theresa's mock turtle
Work these 2 rnds a total of 15[17,
19, 21] times until you have 3[2,3,3] sts
remaining between the markers over the sleeves:
40[46, 56, 64] sts. [At some point, you
will have decreased enough that you may
want to switch back to the DPNs for knitting
comfort.]
Work one round plain, dec 1[1, 2, 1] st
in order to have a number divisible by 3
for the ribbing: 39[45, 54, 63] sts. Work
in k2, p1 rib for 2 inches or until desired
length of turtleneck is reached. BO loosely,
following rib pattern.
For
Amy's boatneck
Work these 2 rnds 11[13, 15, 17]
times more = 64 [70, 80, 88] sts.
BO loosely.
|
FINISHING |
Place
underarm stitches onto two DPNs.
Tighten up any looseness by pulling on the individual
stitches on the needles.
Holding the needles parallel and using the 12-inch
tail threaded onto a tapestry needle, graft
the 2 sets of 7 sts at each underarm using Kitchener
stitch.
You may have holes on either side of the grafted
area. If so, delicately weave them closed. Just
takes time and patience.
|
ABOUT
THE DESIGNERS |
Theresa
has just started her first job in Norway and
her knitting productivity has taken a nose dive.
She's very much looking forward to Easter break,
a traditional week of lazing about and soaking
up the first rays of spring sunshine.
Watch
and see if she gets anything crafty done at
her weblog, Bagatell.
Amy
is the editor of Knitty. She's married and lives
in Canada and likes to drink tea from time to
time. This sweater was her first ever with raglan
sleeves. She very much likes raglan sleeves
now.
Mostly,
she is jumping out of her skin for spring to
really arrive already.
|
Pattern
& images © 2003 Theresa Vinson Stenersen
& Amy R Singer.
Contact Amy
& Theresa. |
|