Feels a little funny to be showing you this sweater (again), given how many times you’ve seen it in various stages of knitting development and how hilariously basic it is. But of course I want you to see it finished and want to share (in summarized form) its particulars. So here we go:
– Gauge is 3.5 stitches and 5 rows per inch; yarn is Queensland Kathmandu Chunky
– On US10 needles CO 48 stitches, marked off as follows: 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1
– Worked back and forth to shape the neck, with increases as follows: On right side rows, increased (kfb) on either side of each raglan seam and at each end (front neck); 10 sts increased each time
– Continued in that manner until piece measured 2 inches deep = 36 back sts and 10 front sts at each end (total of 20 front sts)
– Next row, cast on 16 sts to bridge neck (bringing front total to 36, same as back); joined for working in the round
– Continued increasing at the raglans (total of 8 sts) every other round until 4 inches deep, then spread out the last of the increases to third, then fourth, then fifth rounds — stopping at a total of 116 body stitches (58 front and 58 back) and 34 stitches per sleeve section (counting the seam stitches, which would eventually be divided equally among the 4 sections)
– Worked without any further increases until yoke depth was about 9.5 inches
– Had paused to knit the neck when the yoke was about 4 inches — picked up 80 stitches and ribbed 1×1 on US9 needles (probably should have used 8s)
– Divided body and sleeves — cast on 8 stitches at each underarm; put sleeve stitches on waste yarn
– No decreases in the body; worked straight until the waist, then increased a few times to maintain my ease over the hips; hem is 1×1 ribbing on same US10 needles (didn’t want it to cinch in)
– Sleeves were worked straight until the forearm, then decreased 3 or 4 times; cuffs are 1×1 ribbing on US8 needles
– Wet blocked and, when air-dried until just slightly damp, threw it in the dryer for 10 minutes
– Finished dimensions, post blocking: Length 24.5 inches; chest circumference 38 inches, about 2.5 inches of positive ease; armhole depth 9.5 inches; upper arm circumference 12 inches; sleeve length (from underarm) 16 inches.
For the same sweater in blow-by-blow detail, see my complete top-down sweater tutorial, for which this was the demonstration sweater.
JULY 2, 2019— Out of an abundance of respect for Japanese culture and for the issues around cultural appropriation, I’ve elected to change the name of this pattern, which was originally published as Wabi Mitts. Takako Ueki of Habu, whose yarn inspired this pattern and is sold in the kits, upon hearing that I wanted to change it, suggested the name Mamoru Mitts. Mamoru means “to protect” in Japanese, which feels just right to me. (Further thoughts here.) Thank you, Takako.
DECEMBER 2, 2014— I’m so pleased to be re-releasing this pattern today, which has been updated with all-new photos and some revisions to the text. The details of the knitting are unchanged from the previous version — the edits are only for current Fringe Association styles and wording. And the best part: The pattern is now available in print form with the knit kit at Fringe Supply Co. Happy knitting! —kt
At Stitches Midwest, when we could not keep away from the Habu booth, one of my favorite purchases was some N-68, a nubby, rustic, linen/wool yarn in dark charcoal. I knew right away that I wanted to knit a pair of very simple mitts out of it — something austere and Japanese-ish that would show off the softness and rusticity — and a picture developed in my mind. But as any form of design tends to do, the idea morphed on its way from my brain to my fingers. The result is definitely simple, but deceptively so: Out of the stockinette hand emerges an abbreviated reverse-stockinette thumb, which is crisply outlined all the way around. (Wow, practically slipped into International Art English there.) There’s a small rolled edge at the bottom of the cuff , with clean edges at the top of the hand and thumb.
They’re minimalist, for sure, but of the wabi-sabi school — poetically spare, with details that require you to slow down to notice them. Those details also slow down the knitting a tiny bit, but these are a still a very quick and satisfying project. At a ball and a half per pair, you only need one extra ball of the N-68 to net a second pair. Which is good, because I’m still trying to figure out how to make the first idea work. A companion pattern may follow …
These mitts were inspired by Habu N-68 linen-wool roving — a slubby, rustic, fingering-weight yarn that’s alternately held single and double over the course of the pattern to achieve a dense mitt with refined edges. (Substituting a single strand of heavier yarn will create heftier top edges, altering the look of the mitts.) Without a lot of stretch, and at 7″ around, these fit a medium-large woman’s hand, but the gauge is slightly loose. To make them smaller, go down a needle size, or eliminate 1 stitch from the thumb and 2 or 3 from the hand.
double-pointed needles in size US4/3.5mm and US7/4.5mm, or size needed to obtain gauge (or use your preferred method to work small-circumference in the round)
stitch markers
waste yarn (smooth cotton or dental floss)
tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Measurements:
Gauge: 4.75 sts and 6.5 rounds = 1″ in stockinette
Size: 7″ circumference (measured above thumb); 6″ long
DIRECTIONS
With smaller needles and yarn held double, CO 35 sts and divide between needles. Join in the round, making sure sts are not twisted around needle, and pin a marker for beginning of round (or use yarn tail to denote this).
Knit 3 rounds.
Change to larger needles— Setup round: k28, pm, p3, pm, k4. Slip round: k to 1 st before m, slip 1 knitwise wyib, sm, p3, sm, slip 1 purlwise wyib, k to end. Straight round: k to m, sm, p to m, sm, k to end Repeat last two rounds until piece measures 2 inches from rolled edge (do not unroll to measure), ending with a Slip round.
Create thumb gusset Increase round: k to m, sm, pfb, p to 1 st before m, pfb, sm, k to end. (2 sts increased) Slip round: k to 1 st before m, slip 1 knitwise wyib, sm, p to m, sm, slip 1 purlwise wyib, k to end. Repeat last two rounds 4 more times (total of 10 rounds), ending with a Slip round. (13 sts between markers) Next round: k28, sm, p13, sm, k4
Separate thumb and finish hand Next round: k to m; drop marker. Place next 13 sts on waste yarn; drop second marker. Using backwards loop method, CO 2 stitches on right-hand needle; k to end. (34 sts) Next 10 rounds: Knit. Drop and cut one strand of yarn, leaving a 6-inch tail. Change to smaller needles— Next 3 rounds: Knit. (Avoid working tightly.) BO loosely.
Finish thumb Place 13 held sts on needles. Join yarn held double; pick up and p 2 sts, coinciding with the extra cast-on sts. (I.e., with yarn in front, insert needle purlwise under both legs of one stitch, wrap yarn over needle tip and pull through for a purl stitch.) Join to work in the round. Next round: Purl.
With smaller needle, BO as follows: k1, *p1, pass previous st over, k1, pass previous st over; rep from * to end.
Block as desired. Weave in ends, using yarn tails to close up any gaps around the thumb, if needed.
BO = bind off CO = cast on k = knit m = marker p = purl pfb = purl through front and then back of the stitch before slipping off left needle (1 st increased) pm = place marker sm = slip marker st(s) = stitch(es) wyib = with yarn in back
Oh hey, look at me, standing in the unscenic courtyard outside my studio on a dreary morning, all cozy and warm in my new favorite sweater. I feel like this one has been finished forever, but since I’d gone on about it here and elsewhere, I wanted to show you how it turned out. Pretty cozy, yeah? It grew a bit in blocking (and wearing), so the yoke and armhole depth are a bit longer than I’d intended. So that’s lesson number one for today: This is why we wash our swatches!
You may recall that Agnes was my original starting point for this one. I wound up ripping it back to the neck ribbing and reworking the whole yoke, and in the end (other than the commonalities of all top-down, raglan pullovers) there’s not a single stitch that lines up with Melissa LaBarre’s perfectly lovely pattern — it just wasn’t quite what I was wanting. Lesson two is that I should have ripped out the whole neck and done proper neck shaping, picking up stitches for the ribbing. As Julie Hoover would have warned me, there’s not really enough structural engineering here for the weight of the sweater. The neck will be stretching out every minute I wear this.
Lesson learned, and thus the sweater’s official name: The Almost Perfect Pullover. There are more pics at Ravelry (and my undying affection to anyone who favorites this over there). And the recipe is below. I haven’t written this out in pattern form, but these notes should suffice for anyone familiar with top-down. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Here’s what I did, to the best of my ability to reconstruct it from my notes:
– Malabrigo Chunky in Natural, 600-ish grams (6 skeins plus about a yard, oy); gauge is 3 sts and 4.5 rows per inch
– CO 60 stitches on US11 needle; ribbed 2×2 for 2 inches; increased evenly to 74 stitches on following round (via pfb).
– Marked off for raglans as follows: 2 stitches per raglan seam, 23 stitches each for front and back, 10 stitches per sleeve ( 2 | 10 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 23 )
– Worked increases as a kfb on either side of the 2 raglan stitches. Aiming for an eventual 40 sleeve stitches (x2), 57 body stitches (x2), and an armhole depth of about 11.5 inches, I increased at all eight increase points on round two, then again on every 3rd round through round 36; on 37 and 38 I increased the body sections only. (For more on my raglan decision-making, see A tale of two raglans.)
– Worked the arms first: CO 4 stitches for each underarm; marked center of underarm. Increased 2 stitches on the 8th round (I know, weird). Decreased (k2tog/ssk pairs) at 6 inches and on the 8th, 14th, 18th and 22nd rows thereafter (i.e., counting from the 6-inch mark). At row 26, switching to US10.5 DPNs, decreased evenly (p2tog) to 28 sts. Continuing with US10.5 needles, ribbed 2×2 for 5.5 inches, BO in pattern.
– Body now 114 stitches. On first round, adjusted markers to mark off the two stitches at the center of each underarm. For a tiny bit of interest, I purled those two stitches on every round and twisted the stitch (ktbl) on either side of them. Worked in that fashion for 10 inches, then divided the stitches evenly into front and back.
– For the split hem, and a nice substantial edge up until the ribbing, worked in stockinette with I-cord edging at each end for 1 inch. Adjusting stitch count to 58 stitches (so there would be a pair of knit stitches at each end), switched to 2×2 ribbing for 2 inches. BO in pattern. Repeated for the other side.
– Wove in ends; wet blocked.
Again, for more (and more descriptive) photos, see Ravelry. Thanks to Leigh for snapping the pics.
UPDATE JULY 2018:I’m thrilled to be revising the recommended yarn for this pattern from the original (Sincere Sheep’s Luminous DK) to Sincere Sheep’s US-raised and -milled Cormo Sport — read an interview about the yarn here. The materials list and photos have been updated to reflect the new yarn; everything else about the pattern remains the same! —Karen
Ever since I knitted that Jumbo Basketweave Cowl, I’ve been wanting to do another version — at a thinner gauge and long enough to wrap twice around my neck. And from the moment I first laid my hands on Sincere Sheep’s indigo-dyed yarn, I knew I had to knit with it, and that I wanted it piled up around my neck. So the two urges merged into this Double Basketweave Cowl. Double because it loops twice, because it’s knitted with two strands of yarn, and because I love it doubly as much as the jumbo version. It’s the knitwear equivalent of that most beloved and worn pair of blue jeans.* You can now get it as a kit!
This is a super simple, easy to memorize knits-and-purls stitch pattern, knitted in a bouncy US Cormo wool, held double. Comfort knitting, in other words, and suitable for newer knitters. Feel free to knit more or fewer rows of the basketweave pattern for a wider or narrower cowl, but that will change yardage used. If adjusting for the circumference, multiply your stitch gauge by whatever you want your circumference to be, then round to the nearest number that is divisible by both 4 (for the ribbing) and 6 (for the basketweave pattern).
Materials:
2 skeins Sincere Sheep Cormo Sport (400 yards each; pictured in Anja* and Bare), or approximately 640 yards sport/DK/light-worsted yarn, held double throughout
US10.5/6.5mm circular needle (32″ recommended)
stitch marker
tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Measurements: (after blocking)
Gauge: 4 sts and 5.25 rounds = 1″ in basketweave
Size: 48″ circumference, 9″ tall
DIRECTIONS
With yarn held double, CO 192 sts. Place marker and join in the round, making sure sts are not twisted around needle. Ribbing round: [k2, p2] to end. Repeat ribbing round 3 more times. Next round: Knit. Begin 10-round basketweave pattern (below); work it 4 times in full. Repeat ribbing round 4 more times. BO loosely in pattern. Block as desired. Weave in ends.
Basketweave pattern:
Rounds 1–4: [k2, p4] to end. Round 5: Knit. Rounds 6–9: p3, k2, [p4, k2] to last st, p1 Round 10: Knit.
BO = bind off CO = cast on k = knit p = purl st(s) = stitch(es)
[ERRATUM: There was an error in the original version of this pattern, in the instructions for Rows 6-9 — the repeat was indicated in the wrong spot. It was corrected here on December 15, 2013. If you saved or printed the pattern before that date, please be sure you’re working from a more recent version.]
*Note that when using indigo-dyed yarn, as with a new pair of blue jeans, there will be some color transfer. Expect your hands to turn slightly blue while knitting (it washes right off) and for the soak water to turn blue when blocking the finished piece. After that, the dye should be set.
So I can hardly believe it, but this Sunday marks one year from the day I launched a little blog called (at the time) Yarnover.me, kicking it off with a post about that crazy-wonderful image I still haven’t been able to find the source of. But “crazy-wonderful” is a pretty good adjective for everything that’s transpired in the meantime.
Somehow there were five whole readers that first day, and at this point pageviews are, well, vastly more than that and doubling from one month to the next. Which is extremely rewarding given that it’s due entirely to word of mouth. The rapid growth rate also means there are a lot of people reading today who haven’t been around very long. (Welcome!) So because of that, and because I’m a huge data nerd who thinks some of you might find it interesting, I thought I’d share a few highlights.
The most-clicked external links (from the hundreds upon hundreds I’ve posted), all found in the wildly popular hat roundup:
1) Milanese Lace Topper free hat pattern — far and away the hottest single link of the year
2) Bayard hat pattern
3) Chunkeanie free hat pattern
4) Snöflinga hat pattern
5) Spirograph headband pattern
The top five commenters — one old friend and four news ones, thanks to the blog:
1) MJK
2) Sarah
3) Jo
4) projectstash
5) Heather
I’m singling them out (and hoping they don’t mind) because you should check out their blogs (and encourage MJK and Jo to start one) but also because, as a thank-you for all the interaction, Johanna and I are sending each of them one of our “High-Fiber” tote bags from the Fringe Supply Co. webshop, a very big milestone in the life-so-far of Fringe. So if your name is on that list, expect an email from me. Same goes to From the Purl Side, who coincidentally posted the 1000th comment yesterday.
But wait, there’s more!
A GIVEAWAY:
We’ve got one more tote earmarked for a giveaway to a new commenter. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below, before Midnight PST on Sunday the 9th, saying hello and telling me what your favorite post (or series of posts) has been and why. (Non-contest-related comments are also welcome!) The winner will be chosen at random and announced here early next week. International commenters welcome.
A SPECIAL OFFER:
Speaking of Fringe Supply Co., because we’ve especially loved packing up those orders that amount to a Fringe sampler platter, and in honor of the anniversary, we’ve put together a Gift Set at a special price. The set contains 1 tote bag, 1 project bag, 1 jumbo cedar sachet, 1 packet of stitch markers and 1 packet of enclosure cards, and is priced at just $52! That will be available as long as we’ve got the inventory to support it (or until we close for the holidays on the 15th, whichever comes first).
AND MY GRATITUDE:
Bottom line: From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading. And stay tuned — there’s lots more to come!
One of my favorite things to look at, think about, play around with is what happens when you hold multiple yarns together — either low- or high-contrast — and especially when you switch out yarns along the way. I’ll have a roundup tomorrow* of some of the things that inspire me in this regard, but meanwhile here are those latest mitts I mentioned on Friday, which I began without a plan and made up as I went along.
CO 32 stitches on US8 (5mm) needles, holding two strands of yarn
Ribbed k2/p2 all the way up (except the first round of each color change — for those rounds I knit every stitch)
For the worked-flat section at the thumb opening, knit the first and last two stitches of each row, for garter edging along thumbhole
I had intended to do more color play with these, but I love black-and-white marl so much I just settled into it. For the second mitt, at my friend Sarah’s behest, I threw in a blue stripe as a tiny accent. I like things a little off-kilter, so that pleases me.
YARNS: The ivory, used throughout, is Cascade Eco Alpaca in Natural. The grey is Cascade 220 Heathers in Silver. The black is Shibui Merino Alpaca in Ebony (held single for the solid black stripe at the top of the mitt). And the solid blue is a single strand of Malabrigo Twist in Tuareg.
I stumbled acrossthis schematic for these adorable origami baby booties recently and knew instantly that’s what I’d be knitting for my aforementioned friend Rachel, who is due at any moment. Of course, then I had to fashion a little hat to go with them. I gave them to her at lunch yesterday and she said the booties are going onto his little feet the moment the baby is born. It’s hard to imagine a person this tiny, so I sure hope they fit! (Or that if they don’t, they’re too large rather than too small.)
Here’s what I did —
Yarn is Malabrigo Arroyo (sport weight) in Prussia Blue, held double throughout. Gauge for the hat is 5 sts/inch in stockinette; finished circumference is 13 inches. The booties are 15g of yarn. An additional 31g for the hat.
BOOTIES: CO 7 stitches on US9 needle; knit 22 rows. At end of 22nd row, using backwards loop method, cast on an additional 10 stitches. Row 23, knit back across all stitches then cast on another 10 stitches — you now have a T shape. Knit until total of 32 rows. Bind off, leaving a long tail. The cast-on edge is the toe. Thread the tail through a tapestry needle; fold the wings of the T toward the toe, overlapping them one direction on one bootie and the opposite direction on the other. Seam along toe and both sides; weave in ends.
HAT: CO 66 stitches on US8 DPNs; join for working in the round. Alternate knit and purl rows to create one garter ridge, then switch to stockinette. Knit until 4 inches total. Next round, *k9, k2tog; repeat from * until end of round. Next round, *k8, k2tog; repeat. Continue decreasing at same rate, every round, until 3 stitches remain. Cut 24-inch tail, thread it through remaining 3 stitches and pull tight. Use tail to create tassel. (Tassel directions at Purl Bee.)
.
The tassel was a bit of serendipity. While I was in the middle of the hat, I got the email newsletter from the Purl Bee with two utterly perfect new (grown-up) hat patterns, dubbed the Thank You Hats, one of which had this adorable tassle on top. It was an Aha! moment, and the perfect finishing touch. Thank YOU, Purl Bee!
