Size small 40" (104cm) circumference on a 34" (86cm) mannequin.
This is Holiday Sweater by PetiteKnit.
The pattern is available to buy on Ravelry.
I used King Cole Explorer, a super chunky wool acrylic blend, in shade Marco Polo.
The pattern is written for 3 yarns held together. I used one strand of Explorer.
This jumper is a straightforward top down jumper.
Please remember that as I take you through my tale of woe.
I started the Holiday Sweater in September 2024. It knitted up very fast. I could easily have finished it in a week.
It's worked from the top down.
You start by knitting back and forth before joining in the round to complete the raglan sleeve increases. There is NO short row shaping.
Once you have enough stitches you slip the sleeve stitches on to a holder before knitting round and round to finish the body.
You then go back and finish the dramatic balloon sleeves.
Finally, you pick up stitches around the neckline and knit a tall rib, shaped with increases and decreases before folding in half to make a cushy neckband.
Everything was going so well until the neckband.
I didn't pick up enough stitches around the neckline which made it skew, distorting the stripe.
I don't understand how I got to this stage without noticing!
I did rip this back (which was a bit of a nightmare as I had already sewn down the neckband) and I redid it.
I picked up more stitches, this time the amount specified in the pattern. But unfortunately I had the same outcome. Albeit less dramatic.
This time I hadn't distributed the stitches evenly around the neckline.
These are all rookie errors.
Or maybe I'm doing rookies a disservice as they are probably read their knitting encyclopaedias and YouTube gurus. 😆
So the jumper was unpicked again and banished to the Pouffe of Doom for almost a year.
For my third attempt I picked up the number of stitches specified and I used lockable stitch markers to mark out sections evenly around the neck.
A much better result.
Although I think the self stripe also contributes to the skew effect?
So my top top tip is to take the time to mark out the neckline before picking up stitches.
Other notable tips..
Have a different stitch marker for the Beginning of the Round (BOR) and the raglan increases. Don't trust that you'll remember which is which.
There's a bit in the pattern that asks you to knit across the row making raglan increases (page 2), those increases are specified on page 3.
I used a backward loop cast on for my front neckline.
The sleeves increase in width for a dramatic balloon shape so you can use a 40cm circular needle but you will need DPNs or use magic loop for the cuffs.
The pattern suggests Swiss darning the neckline to close any holes, but I didn't feel I needed to. To be honest I'm not entirely sure how I would have done this without adding more bulk and drawing attention to any holes.
If I haven't put you off it you can squish the jumper in the Pittenweem shop.
Honestly it really is very straightforward. Sometimes projects can (repeatedly) trip you up in ways you don't expect.😆
To recap
You can buy a copy of Holiday Sweater on Ravelry or as a digital pattern in the Pittenweem shop.
You can buy King Cole Explorer here. I used 7 balls of Marco Polo for the small (40"/104cm) size.
You do need a range of circular needles for this project. The pattern specifies:
- 10mm x 60 and 80cm
- 9mm x 80cm length
- 7mm x 40cm and
- 7mm DPNs
I would strongly recommend checking your gauge to make sure you get the same size as the designer. I am a loose knitter (especially with thick yarns) and I ended up using needles 2mm smaller than recommended.
You should check your 'in-the-round' gauge as knitting flat can be different. There are different ways to do this. This YouTube video by Elizabeth Smith is how I do it.
Like statement sleeves? Check out these projects.
