| Sweaters! I use a simple pattern to make sweaters that can easily be adjusted to make any size. It does not require any sewing of pieces together, because I hate doing that. It does rather rely on thinking through your gauge and calculating carefully, because there is no cure to poor estimates, other than pulling out rows upon rows of hard work. Yes, been there, done that. I recommend trying the pattern out on a very small subject first, to get the hang of things. To the right is a photo of an early sweater pattern of mine, knitted for my stuffed monkey Julius. While making this prototype, I found that increasing the shoulder gusset on every row works well for toy monkeys, but not for humans. The below pattern, what I currently use, is very adjustable. For bigger sweaters, add more stitches and/or use bigger yarn/needles. For smaller sweaters, use less stitches and/or smaller yarn/needles. You get the idea. For the purposes of not being totally vague, I have below the numbers I used on my one-year-old son's sweater (pictured below). This is knitted in the round, starting at the top, using a light sport-weight yarn and size 7 needles. The back and front come out exactly the same, so if that will bug you, you'll need to adjust the pattern. The Pattern I first decided how many stitches I wanted for the front, back and arm sections. Arm sections will be smaller than the front and back sections, front and back will be the same size. I used 20 stiches each for front and back, ten for each arm, for a total of 60. Then add 12 stiches (three for each shoulder gusset - 2 shoulder = 4 shoulder gussets), for a total of 72. Now here things do get a little tricky. The easy thing to do is what I did for Julius' sweater above, cast on the stitches and make a knit 2, purl 2 rib for several rows. I did not do that for my son's sweater to the right however. To get the "rolled" effect, I cast on 54 stitches (three-quarters of 72), knitted in the round for five rows, then did one row of (knit 2, increase) around to 72 stitches. You should use a stitch marker or a scrap of waste yarn to mark where your rows start. Then knit around five more rows. The straight knitting creates the roll, and the increase row helps to keep the roll in check a bit. |
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| Now we're ready to do the shoulder gussets, starting from your stitch marker. k=knit, inc=increase (knit into the front and back of the stitch) k 20, inc, k1, inc, k 10, inc, k1, inc, k 20, inc, k1, inc, k10, inc, k1, inc As you can see, the (inc, k1, inc) is the shoulder gusset. Next row: k around Next row: k 21, inc, k1, inc, k 12, inc, k1, inc, k 22, inc, k1, inc, k12, inc, k1, inc, k1 Next row: k around Next row: k 22, inc, k1, inc, k 14, inc, k1, inc, k 24, inc, k1, inc, k14, inc, k1, inc, k3 After the first few rows, there should be no need for you to even count stitches, because you will see a nice even gusset develop. Make sure you don't skip the "k around" rows, unless you're making the sweater for a toy monkey. Continue working in this fashion, making sure to keep your gusset stitches (inc, k1, inc) together. Work until each arm section is wide enough to encase the arm of the soon-to-be-sweater-wearer, and the front and back combined can encase the torso of the soon-to-be-sweater-wearer - with a little give. I believe I worked to about 40 stitches for each arm and 50 stitches each for the front and back (total of 100 stitches for the body). At that point, place each arm section, from gusset to gusset, on a stitch holder or waste yarn. I like to cast on two stitches under each arm when I join the front and back pieces, for just a little bit more room, as I am knitting the first row on the body. Continue to work the body of the sweater to the necessary length. I finished this sweater off with a k2, p2 rib of about 10 rows at the bottom, before binding off. Then go back and pick up the stitches from one of the arms, not forgetting the two additional ones under the arm. Knit to desired length. Here, too, I ended with a k2, p2 rib. Repeat with the other arm. Tuck in stray yarn ends. And there you have it! Now start your next sweater! |
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