The pottery created by the artists from the Nine Northern Pueblos
in New Mexico is some of the finest in the world. Indigenous
potters (like many knitters) span the space from craft to high
art, drawing upon centuries-old traditions and techniques to
push their craft in exciting, modern directions. The Fair Isle-style
pattern on the yoke of Sky Isle was inspired by a pottery style
created by artists and craftspeople from Acoma Pueblo in New
Mexico. Many Acoma pots are painted in black-and-white patterns
that expand and contract to follow the shape of the vessel. I
have tried to recreate this effect by designing a two-color pattern
in which the yoke shaping is accomplished with increasingly smaller
designs that echo the shape of the largest motif.
Sky Isle is a bottom-up, seamless cardigan worked in the round
in a lovely, durable Donegal tweed, a woolen yarn that gives
a weathered appearance to the sweater. The body and sleeves are
worked separately, then joined to form the yoke. Once the neckband
has been completed and bound off, the sweater is steeked and
cut up the midline and the steeked portions are secured to the
sweater body. Stitches are picked up on either side of the steek
to form the button band, which joins the collar at a mitered
angle.
model: Candace
Joggerst photos: Minesh
Bacrania, Raymond Joggerst
Recommended needle size [always use a needle
size that gives you the gauge
listed below -- every knitter's
gauge is unique] 1
set US #8/5mm double-point needles 16-inch and 27-inch US #8/5mm circular
needle
Notions yarn needle Stitch
markers stitch
holders 6
1-inch buttons (buy buttons after project
is complete to ensure they'll fit) small
amount of matching lace or sport-weight
yarn (for sewing down steeked edges) sewing
machine
GAUGE
16 sts/22 rows = 4" in stockinette
stitch
PATTERN NOTES [Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]
K1, p1 rib:
Rnd 1: *P1, k1; rep from * around.
Rep rnd 1 for patt.
Charts The charts for this pattern are very large
and fit on a letter-sized page.
Click here and print the resulting
page.
DIRECTIONS
SLEEVES (Make 2)
With double-point needles and MC, cast
on 24[26, 30, 32, 36, 40, 44] sts and join to work in the rnd,
being careful not to twist sts on needle. Pm for beg of rnd.
Work in k1, p1 rib for 1.25 inches, ending 1 st before marker.
Rnd 1 (Inc Rnd): M1, k1, slip marker, k1, m1, knit to 1 st before marker.
2 sts inc
Rnds 2-5: Work even in St st. Rep Rnds
1-5 a total of 10[10,
10, 10, 11, 13, 14] times: sleeve increased to 44[46, 50, 52,
58, 66, 72] sts. Change to 16” circular needle when/if
desired.
Work even until sleeve measures 22 [22.5, 22.5, 23,
23, 23.5, 23.5] inches, or desired length.
Next Rnd: Knit to 5[5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8] sts before marker, place
next 10[10, 12, 14, 14, 16, 16] sts on holder. 34[36, 38, 38,
44, 50, 56] sts
BODY
With longer circular needle and MC, cast
on 118[134, 150, 166, 182, 198, 214] sts and join to work in
the rnd, being careful not to twist sts on needle. Pm for beg
of rnd (center marker).
Rnd 1: *K1, p1; rep from * twice more,
pm (steek marker). The markers will denote the right and left
sides of the center steek. Work to center marker.
Cont working in k1, p1 rib until garment
measures 1.25 inches. Work to center marker. Change to St st
and work even until piece measures 3 inches from beg.
Joining Rnd: Knit to first joining marker, remove marker, place
10[10, 12, 14, 14, 16, 16] underarm sts on holder, remove marker.
Place live sts from sleeve on body needle. Join MC, cont working
to next marker, remove marker, place underarm sts on holder as
before. Place live sts from other sleeve on body needle. Join
MC and cont working to center marker. 166[186, 202, 214, 242,
266, 294] sts
Yoke
Work even for 4[4, 2, 5, 7, 10, 13] rnds.
Starting at steek marker, beg
working Chart A, starting with Row
4[4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1] and stitch 17 [19, 24, 17,
15, 15, 24], making sure to strand
yarn loosely across the WS; rep Chart
patt to center marker, then alternate k1 in
MC and k1 in CC across 6 steek sts;
cont working Chart A through Row 29, alternating
MC and CC over the steek so that
the colors form a checkerboard patt.
Beg working Chart B, starting on Row 2 and stitch 11[12, 16,
11, 10, 10, 16].
Work Rows 2-11 of Chart B, working steek sts
as before.
Beg working Chart C, starting on Row 2 and stitch 7[8, 10, 7,
6, 6, 10].
Work Rows 2-13 of Chart C, working steek sts as before.
Shape Back Neck (optional):
Cont using MC, knitting to 11[13, 15,
16, 18, 19, 21] sts before steek marker; sl
1, turn, wrap yarn, pass stitch back,
and purl to 11[13, 15, 16, 18, 19,
21] sts before center marker; wrap
and turn, knit to 9[11, 13, 14, 16,
17, 19] sts before steek marker, picking
up wrap and knitting it tog with st; wrap
and turn, purl to 9[11, 13, 14, 16,
17, 19] sts before center marker, picking
up wrap and knitting it tog with st; wrap
and turn, knit to 2 sts before steek
marker.
Collar:
Slip the 2 sts before the steek marker
to a spare needle and hold behind work,
creating a fold; knit each of these
2 sts tog with the corresponding st
on the opposite side of the steek marker. Turn, k1, m1, knit
to 2 sts before center marker and rep, creating a fold on the
opposite side of the steek sts. Turn, bind off 2 center steek
sts and drop from needle.
Next Row [WS]: Turn, k1, m1, knit to end of collar.
Rep last
row until there are 5 ridges of garter
st visible from the RS.
Bind off loosely.
FINISHING Sew Up Center Steek:
Using a sewing machine with zig-zag set
to the width of 1 knit st and a short (0.5 mm or so) length,
sew a seam though the center of the 2nd and 4th steek sts. Cut
up the center of the sweater. You may wish to practice this
on your gauge swatch first to ensure that your stitching will
prevent the garment from unraveling. Use the lighter-weight
yarn and yarn needle to secure the cut steeks to the WS.
Buttonhole Band:
With MC, pick up and knit 2 sts for every
3 rows along right front and end of collar.
Work in garter
st until 2 ridges are visible from the RS.
Mark location of
6 buttonholes, evenly spaced.
On next row, *knit to 1 st before
marker, bind off 2 sts; rep from * for rem markers, knit to
end. On following row, knit, casting on 2 sts over each gap.
Work even in garter st until 5 ridges are visible from the
RS. Bind off loosely.
Buttonband:
Pick up sts as for buttonhole band, work
even in garter st until 5 ridges are visible from the RS.
Bind off loosely.
Place held underarm sts on needles. Join using 3-needle bind
off or Kitchener st.
Weave in ends. Sew buttons opposite buttonholes.
Block.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Candace Joggerst is a PhD scientist working in
computational astrophysics who lives on a mesa (an island-in-the-sky,
of sorts) in Northern New Mexico. She has found that satisfying
the urge to create real, complicated objects with knitting is far
more portable and space- (not to mention finger-) saving than building
furniture in a woodshop. Candace has been knitting for 20+ years,
but only designing wearable garments for the past 2 years.
Her
designs can be found on Ravelry under IslandInTheSky.
