21-07-2022

Final Thoughts:

• This design is ingenious and very chic while also being truly warm for winter. Happily, the pattern comes with a schematic.

• To produce this design with the shape and ease I prefer (given that my full bust is quite projected and I don’t want something entirely shapeless), I knitted the small (my best size by the schematic above the full bust), grading to medium at full bust. Prior to starting the fisherman’s rib (FR) portion, I thought it prudent to grade to the size medium by casting on additional stitches at the split-for-sleeves. Mind you, this FR stitch really does stretch exorbitantly. In the end, I opted to make double decreases starting at the underbust, on the side seams, to remove 24 stitches (6”) of circumference. (See details in Knitting Notes below.)

• In retrospect, I should have gone down a needle size (US 6 for main body) and knitted the second size all the way through. In this scenario, I probably still would have removed stitches at the under bust.

• Also, were I to make this again I would definitely begin the decreases I opted to do starting 2” higher up - before the front body falls at the depth of the full bust, just given the volume of the FR and that it’s quite cropped (so there’s not enough length over which to decrease if you start as low as the front underbust). After blocking I feel this garment is a bit too poofy at the waist area for me (though I do realize that’s its thing). I though my decreases would mitigate this adequately but I’m not sure they do.

• I’ve seen a number of project pages that suggest that this pattern could be more clearly written. I don’t think it’s unclear - though it is written in such a way that you may have to re-review things multiple times over multiple pages. This isn’t a beginner project. I’d say it’s firmly intermediate. There’s lots going on at certain points in this pattern and it isn’t TV knitting (except the kind that you don’t need to pay attention to) unless you are seriously comfortable doing short rows and FR more or less at the same time, mulitple times. As it is, I kept my alterations light (though usually I alter hard) because I didn’t want to lose the integrity of the design and, frankly, I’m too new at FR to be adding in hard core fit alterations on top of everything else.

• I don’t know why the designer didn’t opt to instruct K1B/K1 (garter version) instead of the K1B/P1 method. They both accomplish the same goal and one is much easier - esp since you work 1x1 rib on either side of the FR section. To my mind, it can get confusing which rib pattern to work when you’re doing 2 of them in the same row. The K1B/K1 version feels more like straight knitting (garter) vs ribbing and it goes more easily and quickly. But perhaps it seems more straight-forward to do FR with purls because the garter version does present as a complete row of purl bumps on the side you’re working (not that that’s difficult…). Working into the stitch below unwraps the one previously knitted / lengthens the knitted stitches and the elongated stitch emerges over a 2-row repeat. The stitch you knit into “below” (the K1B) is the stitch associated with the raised/observable long knit stitch. The recessive stitch is always knitted as a regular stitch (aka the K1 of this 2-st repeat). That’s how you can easily tell them apart.

• I started this project knowing nothing of FR (how to read it, how to fix it, how it actually works, how to increase or to decrease in pattern) and I can say I have much more knowledge now. I don’t know that FR is a preferred stitch pattern for me - the fabric is so dense and voluminous, it eats up so much yarn and it looks slightly creepy, for want of a better descriptor - but I’m pretty sure I could approach another FR pattern, one that’s more advanced, without issue, should I choose to.

• Though I figured it out on my own, I do wish that the pattern had an option for under bust side decreases because it might help some knitters to obtain better fit.

• This pattern has convinced me of what I’ve suspected for a long time - I hate tubular bind off. I find it weird looking (even if you do 4 rows/rounds of double knitting before you start). It in no way looks like “ready-to-wear” fashion. Though I’m quite even at achieving it, and I’ve done it many diff ways, I just don’t like the result. I’m seriously considering ripping out the bind off and the preceding double knit rows and just binding off “normal” style. This hem sure doesn’t need to stretch. If you decide to go with it, remember it’s going to add length to the garment. I’m one of those people who likes to make things complicated. But going forward, I’m going to remind myself that the reason I’m not doing the tubular bind off isn’t because it’s fussy, but because I don’t like it. Having said this, I don’t mind it on the ribbed sleeves which happen to be my fave part of the finished object.

• About the yarn: I love Sunday Morning by Sonder Yarn. I feel it’s a lovely combo of soft and rustic. It’s a very bouncy, quite lightly spun (so it can split) 2-ply. It’s also insanely warm. Insanely. This is my first time working with the DK-weight and, at least in this colour way (and I’m not sure if it’s dyed or “natural”), is less soft and more rustic than the fingering-weight. But it could just be this batch. And it is still far softer than something like Icelandic wool. (I’d classify this batch Shetland soft.) I would totally work with this yarn again.

Swatching / Gauge

Sunday Morning DK US 7:
1x1 rib - Pre-blocked: 22st and 28R in 4”
Post-blocked: 19st and 28R in 4”
Post-blocked (stretched): 18st and 30R in 4”

Appears to have shrunk vertically by 7% and grown horizontally (in keeping with the last sweater I made using this yarn).

Fisherman’s rib - Pre-blocked: 16st and 44R in 4”
Post-blocked (NOT stretched): 16st and 44R in 4”

US6.5 needle (this is the last swatch made)
Pre-blocked: 28st and 29R in 4”
Post-blocked (stretched): 18st and 32R in 4” - you could block this less aggressively to get 19st…
Re-blocked without stretching: 26-27st and 28R in 4”

US6 needle
Pre-blocked: 31st and 30R in 4”
Post-blocked (stretched): 19st and 32R in 4”

Note that it’s seriously tricky to sort out gauge here. My first US7 swatch was knitted up in 25st and the instructed gauge is 19st in 4” (4.75st per inch). Given that I had 6 extra stitches (equivalent to 1.25 extra inches) I dried the swatch with no pins and then pinned it out to 5” to confirm that the fabric would stretch and wouldn’t be too open. When stretched to this, I did get 19st per 4” but this is a game of chance. I’ve heard about a lot of people wishing that they’d sized down and I wouldn’t want this fabric to be any more open than it is in the swatch…

I made 2 new 1x1 rib swatch in US6 and also US 6.5 to determine how I like the look of that fabric. I’ll pin these out while blocking to 5”. Since there’s so much stretch in the fabric, gauge may work better with a smaller needle.

Then I reblocked the first swatch (US7) and pin it out to the desired dimensions to make sure I like the look and feel of the fabric…

At this point, the US6 is out - gauge too tight. I may go with the US6.5 (weird size) but I don’t love the slip on the Dyak needles so, do I really want to knit a whole project with them. I’m going with the 7 and block as I go…

Knitting Notes:

Size: Given the stretch factor of fisherman’s rib and what I’ve read about the sweater stretching, I’m going to make a modified size 2/small (grading to size 3/medium at the full bust). While I’m feeling fairly comfortable about stitch gauge, my row gauge when swatching was quite off, not to mention the 7% shrinkage in the yarn on blocking (in 1x1 rib).

Yoke: I appear to be closer to instructed row gauge (~6.4R/1”) - now that I’m making the actual garment - than I was when I swatched. Presuming this would continue (and since I could expect a 7% vertical shrinkage of yarn), I added 4 extra rows to the yoke to get to the 2nd size-instructed depth of 6.5” - post-blocking (which is 6.9” pre-blocking).

• In the row to split for sleeves, I opted to cast on 7 stitches (vs 3) for the body at the underarm because I wanted to get to the size 3 (213 st instead of 205).

Body: This is where things started to get a bit tricky - esp since I’ve never made a garment using fisherman’s rib before. After ripping back twice, I decided a lifeline might be useful - because I was initially unfamiliar with how to read this stitch pattern. It was the right choice. I removed it after a couple of 10-row repeats on the body when I had a better sense of things.

• Based on what I’ve read on other project pages and what I’ve found on the web, I opted to do the “garter” version of fisherman’s rib (FR) - alternating K1 and K1B rather than, as instructed in the pattern, P1 and K1B.

• I was initially confused because tutorials I’ve seen suggest that one needs an even number of stitches to work garter FR and an odd number of stitches to work it the way that’s suggested in the pattern. It didn’t cause me any issue to do the garter rib with an odd number of stitches. When I resolved the FR and went back to the 1x1 rib, all of the K1/P1s lined up fine.

** Fisherman’s Rib (FR) Component of the Next Rows** (After the set up row, you work these 2 rows 3x each to form the first 6 rows of the 10 row repeat):

• Set Up Row (WS): I opted to make the set up row (the one before you start the FR, at 0.5” below the split for sleeves) on the WS. Rib (as instructed) to M1, purl all st to M2, rib to end of round (as instructed).

• Row 1 in Pattern (RS) is the beginning of the FR. Rib to M1, K1B, (K1, K1B) (last stitch is a K1B), sl M2, rib to end.

• Row 2 in Pattern (WS): Rib to M1, K1, (K1B, K1) (last stitch is a K1, sl M2, rib to end.

• On the body, on rows 7 and 8 of the 10-row repeat, I opted to do German short rows. Per other project pages, I knitted one stitch further than the marker before working the first GSR.

• Having worked the body 10-row repeat 5x, I was at 5.5” of depth from underarm. It appears to take ~0.75” to do one full repeat (for me). My FR vertical gauge was 11R per inch.

• I opted to do all instructed repeats on the body (9) and to do short rows for all because I required another 2” of depth to get to the under bust (8.5” from the underarm).

• About short rows and maintaining - or reducing - the high-low hem: I don’t want a strong difference between the hem at the front and the back (really short front) but I do appreciate the design. What I’ve noted is that, once short rows are worked, you have to keep doing them, at least to some extent / at some interval (depending on your gauge in FR) or the impact is that the front collar bands start to pull the garment down. I don’t entirely understand the mechanism as yet, but it would appear that the short rows are there not only to create a longer back/shorter front but to keep the front bands, having a diff row gauge than the FR body, from dropping lower than the back hem. It seems, to some extent, the extent to which the high-low front-body angle happens (or doesn’t) depends on the length of the garment. The longer you knit it, the more likely - if you stop the short rows to prevent too much high front / low back - that the front bands will actually dip lower than the back hem line.

• At 9 repeats of the 10-row FR pattern, I was at 8.75” from underarm and at depth of full bust on the front of the garment. The back body at this point was ~1.25” longer than the front. I decided to keep doing the short rows at a slightly longer interval - 9th and 10th rows. Update: In the end, I worked short rows until the final 1x1 rib (as instructed) and the difference in length between front and back - admittedly before blocking - was less than 1”. By working the short rows every 9th and 10th row, I had no issues with the high-low hem angle being too pronounced. FWIW, based on most project pages, there are many fewer projects with high distinction between the two lengths than without. If that’s what you’re going for, I recommend keeping the body cropped and doing the short rows 2 rows earlier, per repeat, than instructed, on the 5th and 6th rows. As per my bullet above, as I see it, the primary reason for the short rows is to maintain alignment between 2 stitch patterns of diff length. And, while others have suggested that the short rows give more volume to the garment, that’s not how I see it. They don’t add any circumference, they simply manage the length.

• I opted not make the pockets - I won’t use them and I prefer a more minimal amount of bulk.

• At my gauge, at under bust, in medium / size 3, the garment circumference was 42” unblocked - without the bands crossing over. When the bands lay atop one another, the circumference was 40”, still larger than I required at the under bust. (35”-36” is generally what I aim for, to skim midsection, these days.)

• While it seems extreme, I decided to remove 24 stitches of circumference (~6” in FR), starting at 8.75” from under arm, by doing waist shaping that started just below the full bust. At this point I’d knitted 5R of body in 1x1 rib and 90 rows in FR. (Remember that amounts to 45R of actual depth, given how FR works.) My vertical gauge, in FR, was 44R in 4”, not blocked, and it’s going to stretch vertically, over time, given the density of this st pattern.

• Even removing this number of stitches, the garment is voluminous in circumference. I do wish I’d gone with a US 6 needle for the main body…

• Use this tutorial to make the decreases, even though it’s for half fisherman’s rib, it works…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAm9zB7c9Pw. Note that when decreasing in FR, a 2st repeat, one needs to decrease 2st at every decrease point to retain the pattern of the rib. So I’m either committed to decreasing 8 st in a row OR to decrease on only one side (back or front) in a row, which would still be a decrease of 4 stitches.

• Left Leaning Decrease: SBK2TOGP - Using the next 3 sts on the LHN: Sl stitch below knit wise, k2tog, pass slipped stitch (both strands) over the top and off. 2 sts dec’d

• Right Leaning Decrease: SBKPP - Using the next 3 sts on the LHN: slip stitch below knitwise, k1, pass slipped stitch (both strands) over the top and off, insert RHN into the stitch below of the first stitch on the LHN and lift the lower stitch up onto the needle, return the stitch that was knit to the LHN, pass the 2nd stitch with its strand from below over the knit stitch and off. Return knit stitch to RHN. 2 sts dec’d

• The way I worked this was to decrease 8 st per decrease row, 3x over 3” (which is approx 25R of FR or 50R of knitting). (I would start this at the full bust, were I to do this again.) To ensure that I could maintain the pattern, and given that I had an odd number of stitches at underarm (on body), I worked the decreases, on either side, at 4st from the centre underarm (aka the side seam). I used markers to delineate the 3st decrease segments on the front and back body - essentially the recessive stitches on either side of the centre underarm K1B, and that centre K1B aren’t involved in the decreases. It’s the 3 st on either side of those that are worked to decrease. I continued to work the short rows every 9th and 10th round…

Decrease Row 1: (at 8.75” from under bust): Work in pattern until blue marker, sl m, work left leaning decrease over next 3 st, sl m,work 3 st in pattern, sl m, work right leaning decrease over next 3 st, sl m, work in pattern, repeat * - * one more time (205 st)

Decrease Row 2: (6 FR rows below last decrease aka 12 of knitting): Work in pattern until blue marker, sl m, work left leaning decrease over next 3 st, sl m,work 3 st in pattern, sl m, work right leaning decrease over next 3 st, sl m, work in pattern, repeat * - * one more time (197 st)

Decrease Row 3: (6 FR rows below last decrease aka 12 of knitting): Work in pattern until blue marker, sl m, work left leaning decrease over next 3 st, sl m,work 3 st in pattern, sl m, work right leaning decrease over next 3 st, sl m, work in pattern, repeat * - * one more time (189 st)

• My intent was to knit to 13” from underarm to optimize fit for my short waist, given that this is a somewhat cropped design. Update: While that was my goal, in the end I knitted 14” from underarm because it’s tricky to determine length in FR and/or to see how this fabric is going to hang in the end, esp pre-blocking.

• The way I switched from FR - K1B, K1 (RS) to 1x1 rib for sweater hem was to work the “resolution” row on the WS, P1, K1 (WS)… I thought of doing P1, K1B on that first row but there didn’t seem to be much point. Looked more or less the same. Note that I see little flat loops where I started the FR below the yoke and then where I stopped it at the start of the hem. It’s not messy but it is visible. Mind you, it’s not like this garment is reversible…

• As of completing the body (though not binding off because I do that after blocking) I had 138g of yarn to work with - so the body of this garment took 247g. That’s a lot of weight for a sweater bodice, IMO, given my preference for full sweaters to weigh ~250g total.

Sleeves: I kind of went my own way with these, esp after casting on the first sleeve with the instructed number of stitches for the 2nd size. That first attempt, while it fit, seemed too stretched for my liking. (I wanted something that isn’t skin tight because the body of the sweater is so squishy. I feel the need to maintain a balance between the fabrics.) I did use the instructions for the types of decreases used but this is how I worked the sleeves:

• Returned 51 st to needles and cast on 7 additional st under the arm (I had enough space because I casted on 7 extra stitches at the side body at the underarm. Worked 14 rows plain (58st).

• Worked first decrease round - k1, decrease 1 stitch in pattern, k to 2 st before EOR, decrease 1 stitch in pattern. (56 st)

• Knit 12R

• Worked decrease round 2 (54 st)

• Knit 12R

• Worked decrease round 3 (52 st)

• Knit 12R

• Worked decrease round 4 (50 st)

• Knit 30R on US 7. Then switched to US 6 and worked 9 more rounds. BO.

• Total rounds worked 93R. Sleeve took 34g of yarn. This got me to 14” below under arm - bracelet length, which is what I was going for. This sweater is too warm to make the sleeves 3/4 but I didn’t want overly long sleeves. When you block, block to 14” with additional width (enabled by the softening of the yarn in water).

• When finished the 2nd sleeve I had 69g of yarn left - I still have to bind off sleeves and body after blocking…

• I used the following tutorials to remind me of how to work the tubular bind offs on sleeves and body hem:

In the round: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBrGhv1_RBU&list=PLx9...

Flat (just for the set up, I don’t divide the stitches over 2 needles): https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/tubular-bind-off

• Given that I’ve finally decided that I don’t like how tubular bind off looks, I may have to go through the rather fussy process of ripping it out, only to redo it “the easy way”.

Pre-blocked Dimensions:

Body length from under arm: 13.75” on back body / 13” on front body
Body length from back neck (where collar meets body): 19”
Width of collar band: 3.25:
Unblocked rib - circumference at upper arm: 3.75”
Unblocked rib length - from under arm to cuff edge: 14”
Circumference at full bust (incl bands that overlap): 39”
Circumference at hem (incl bands that overlap): 33”
Back yoke depth (does NOT include collar): 7.25”