Knitting is for the Adventurous
Hey Kids,
Happy Friday. We survived another week on this beautiful planet of ours & an election week none-the-less. I hope all of you are taking good care of yourselves & finding time to relax & unplug.
I’ve never been terribly good at relaxing. Since childhood I’ve generally been in a state of constant motion or fast asleep, so imagine my delight when I began knitting (in earnest) about a decade ago & found an almost meditative state, in motion. It’s a beautiful thing.
I’ve been busy making, alongside everyone at the store in preparation for Sacred Sheep over the last several weeks & I’ve got a handful of sweaters on my needles these days. And as we know, the only thing better than having a sweater on the needles, is having a sweater on the body, so I was delighted to finish my Sunset Sweatshirt by Jessie Maed Designs.
This slightly boxy, dropped shoulder, pullover has been in my queue since its release, but I’ve knit several one-color sweaters lately & was feeling like I needed to add a stripe to my wardrobe. Enter modifications.
One of my favorite things about knitting, second to the community & third to relaxation while moving, is the ability to create wardrobe staples that I know I’m going to love for years to come. There is no rule book for creation & I love using patterns as a guide.
I’d seen a sweater in my adventures that featured a bold black and white stripe with a silhouette very similar to the Sunset Sweatshirt, so I thought, why not meld those two ideas into one sweater. I grabbed 4 skeins of Tod Worsted, two skeins of Pitch & two of Old Shale, and went about bringing my vision to life.
I made a size S, following Jessie’s pattern, but adding in the stripes as I knit. I based the sequence entirely on how I was feeling as I went (and highly recommend everyone try it sometime, it’s delightful), but if you’re into my stripe sequence my modifications are below. It’s a choose your own adventure, kids!
Happy adventuring & happy knitting.
Lindsay
(please note that the pattern has optional bust darts, which I didn’t include)
Front & Back:
Work all of the short row shaping for both the front and the back in MC to the set up rows of both the full back & the full front + 2 more rows in stockinette. (total 20 rows)
Switch to CC for full back & full front, working through the first set of increases in CC. (total 24 rows)
Switch back to MC and work the rest of the increase rows in stockinette.
Join in the round in your MC. (total 22 rows)
Switch to CC and work 22 rows in the round.
Switch to MC and work 7 rows in the round.
Switch to CC and work 7 rows in the round.
Switch to MC and work 14 rows of ribbing & bind off.
Neckline:
12 rows of ribbing in MC.
Sleeves:
Work the same stripe sequence (working decreases as pattern directs), picking sleeves up in MC and knitting 24 rows.
Switch to CC and knit 22 rows.
Switch to MC and knit 7 rows.
Switch to CC and knit 7 rows.
Switch to MC and knit 7 rows.
Switch to CC and knit 5 rows.
Switch to MC and knit 5 rows.Switch to CC and knit 3 rows.
Switch to MC for 7 rows then change to ribbing needle and knit 14 rows of ribbing in MC.