Winter has set in here in NSW. We’ve not long passed the solstice, and the days are still short and cool. In summer I’m an early riser, keen to get a head start on the day. At the moment I trudge out of bed in the dark, grumbling away until the coffee sets in. Some days I’m still waiting for the coffee to kick in.
This jumper is warmth and comfort. The Honeycomb yellow makes me feel invigorated and optimistic. It isn’t quite the saying, but if you are what you wear, well… you know what I’m getting at.
I’ve made this jumper once before in the Territory colour and I just love it. It needs a good defuzzing at the moment so I’m not going to show it here. Making the jumper a second time, I thought I’d change it up and make it a little more fitted. I’m happy I achieved that.
When planning the first jumper, I considered the effect of yarn substitution before anything else. The pattern suggested Malabrigo Rios, worsted weight 100% merino. The metreage for that particular yarn is 192m/100g. My 8 ply 100% merino is 180m/100g. In the book, ‘The Principles of Knitting ’, June Hemmons Hiatt suggests yardage variation of up to 20% can be a guide in determining a successful yarn substitution. There was only 6% variance between the yarns, so I took that as a green light to begin swatching.
Since I’ve already got a completed jumper in the same XS size, I didn’t need to swatch again. I put it on and cinched it gently where I’d like to alter the fit. I counted the stitches that I wanted to take out, and wrote them in pencil on my pattern.
To make my fit changes I reduced the sleeve circumference by 6 stitches. That gave me a slim sleeve and flowed on to reduce the width of the sleeve caps. The upper body panels were then stretched to create more fit above the bust, upper back and at the neckline.
To even out the colour distribution I alternated yarns from different cakes each row of the body panels. I alternated at the beginning of the round, bringing the most recently used yarn to the front and taking the new working yarn to the back (unless the first stitch was a purl). The right side seam looks tidy and the method worked well.
One other small change I’d made this time was to use a twisted rib technique at the cuffs. There was no imperative for doing that, I just wanted to change it up from the first version.
The jumper is still super stretchy and comfortable despite removing stitches. I think a good deal of that is owed to the forgiving nature of the seed stitch panel at the front.
I’d happily have a few more of these in my wardrobe in different colours. It took me about 3 weeks of on-and-off knitting to complete, so I could get a couple more completed before winter is through. Maybe an Emerald and Classic Blue?
If you’re keen to make your own, the 'Rock Creek' pattern can be found at:-