Lamana Como Grande:
Pre-blocked US 8: 17st and 36R
Post-blocked US 8: 16.25 and 34R
Pre-blocked US9: 16st and 32R
Post-blocked US9: 15.5 and 32R
I’m going to go with the US8 for the larger needle size. It’s quite a bit smaller vertically (1 row per inch) and a smidge smaller horizontally, but I prefer the fabric and something this massive is going to have a lot of stretch just by virtue of the yarn and stitch size.
I’m opting to make the size 2 (which is really quite similar to the size 1 - what I sense will be optimal in shoulders for me) and I’ll grade to the size 3 in the bust. But I’m making adjustments as I go, in light of the diff between my row gauge and that instructed, and given the degree to which my yarn grows vertically when blocked (by 0.5R per inch). I may also opt to either keep the size 3 circumference for the remainder of the sweater body OR I may decrease a couple of times in the waist. I don’t want an A line body so I’ll choose one of these options when I have a better sense of fit.
I don’t want 4.25” of overlap (the equivalent of 8” of positive ease if the garment doesn’t overlap). I’ll likely go for 3” positive ease but I have to figure out how the pattern works to determine how I’ll proceed on this account.
- Started making the size 2, as instructed, until the end of the Establish Sleeve Caps section. At the end of this section I had 3” of depth, not 3.7 (as instructed for size 2), not even 3.4” (as instructed for size 1). I’m narrow in the shoulders and I’ve got a high armscye so I’m ok with getting size 1 dimensions here. Given my gauge, I’ve knitted 2 more rows (28R altogether vs 26R) to get to 3.3” and then I’ll make up any additional slack at the end of the Shape Sleeve Caps, Front Edges and Body section, prior to splitting for the sleeves. In retrospect, I wish I’d done 4 extra rows in the Shape Sleeve Caps section rather than doing 2 of them in the Est Sleeve Cap section. My shoulders are seriously narrow and I could have worked with the 3.1” I got in that section, prior to adding 2 more rows.
- Note that I also did one ADDITIONAL front body increase (+2st) on the WS extra row (because I’m going to need the extra room in the bust, though my frame is narrow, and I figure it’s best to get that started at the earliest juncture.
- I’ve also decided to add 4 additional front band increases (+4), in addition to the 2 I added in the Est Sleeve Caps section, for a total of 6 extra stitches during the Shape Sleeve Caps… section. This will give me 6 extra front band stitches and, by the time I complete the 16 rows of the Shape Sleeve section, I’ll have 39” of bust circumference, based on my gauge. Stitch count at this point comes to 219 st, 70 of which will be removed for sleeves (at which point 12st will be added at underarm).
- Note that I’ll need to do 2 additional rows, above the 16 instructed in the Shape Sleeve section, to get to the armscye length specified for the size 2. Tried it on to confirm it works. In these 2 rounds, I used the WS to add another 2 front band stitches (see more deets below). This means that, on the front panels, I’ll have 45st per. And at this point, 45x2 (Fronts) + 63 (Back) + 12 (under arm st) = 163 st or 40” at my gauge.
- I want to have 41” ish of fabric when I get to my full bust circumference of 39” (I only want cross-over ease of 2 - 2.5 inches, not 4.25”.)
- The one element of the instructions I found complicated was that about underarm increases when splitting for the sleeves. I believe, in my size, I’m supposed to cast on 9 stitches though, originally, I read the instructions such that I would cast on 6 st. With that assumption, I intended to increase 4 additional stitches at front band BUT, since I’m supposed to add an extra 6 st to the circumference at the under arm (3 extra under each underarm), I’d actually be 2 stitches over what I was going for.
- The way I’ll manage this is by only casting on 8 stitches under each underarm, not 9, and I’ll move the side markers such that the 3 at the side seam (those that will be the stockinette detail) will be centred with one fewer stitch on the back body - i.e. of the 8 under arm stitches, 3 will bias toward the front body, 3 will be the side detail and 2 will be on the back body. But this also means that I won’t need to do any additional increases (over and above what the pattern suggests) at the front band, what I originally thought I’d need o get to the size 3 bust circumference…
- At this point I have 167 st (circ of size 3): 47 on each front, 3 stitches at each under arm and 67 stitches on the back body.
- I will do one more side front increase (as instructed in section Lower Body, R 22) to get me to 169 st. I’ll then work 14R (the equivalent depth of 1.6” as instructed, but at my gauge) and then I’ll need to decide whether I want to work straight to the hem OR if I want to do a few decreases to pull in the waist a bit… Update:I opted neither to increase nor to decrease. I worked the body straight, as of bust, at 169st, see more below.
- When this yarn blocks, it will relax and also stretch by 5% (as per the story told by pre-blocked to post-blocked swatches) so I’m going to trust the math…
- Note: Based on this construction, my full bust circumference is about 1.5” below my armscye (split for the sleeves point) given the degree of projection of my breasts. But the majority of volume (length) required as a result of this projection is in the lower bust (below the nipple). Having finished the “knit even” rows section (following splitting for the sleeves) (for me, 14R), I’m still 2-3 inches from my underbust, following the line of the lower bust.
- Per above, I opted not to decrease in the waist and I’m pleased that I didn’t. I think the cardi fits closely enough simply given that I omitted the instructed increase of 20 stitches (5” of circumference). I wasn’t looking for an a-line shape and, given the weight of this garment, the extra fabric would have added unnecessary weight/mass.
- Knit to 15.5” from underarm and bound off in 2-stitch icord on the RS. I went longer than I usually do because I wanted the option to widen the bicep area slightly without sacrificing length in the tube. The sleeves easily wet-blocked to 16” of length, pinned, while the bicep width is still a generous 11” of circumference.
- Won’t lie - the sleeves are finicky (though they look so pretty). It’s not that there’s anything complicated about them, simply that the purling small-diameter plus managing the underarm detail is fussy,
05-01-2022
Final Thoughts:
- This pattern is beautifully drafted - so easy to knit (and quite easy to modify, something I appreciate since I modify everything for fit).
- I’d even recommend this as a first sweater - large gauge for quick knitting, minimal finishing, barely any purling, no closure and clear instructions. And the design is so elegant.
- I do think it’s key not to knit it larger than necessary because this is a heavy garment (even if knitted in light-weight chunky wool) and the weight will cause drag and stretch in the garment over time. Go smaller than you think you need to unless your experience has shown you that a larger size is necessary. Even horizontally, this garment will stretch robustly given the amount of ease produced by larger stitches.
- In retrospect, I would have made the size 1, beginning the extra front band increases (as I did) getting to the size 3 circumference at the full bust. That’s largely what I did, except that I went with something closer to the size 2 shoulder width dimension and I should have gone smaller than the size 1 based on the narrowness of my shoulders. It’s not a big deal, I actually landed somewhere between size 1 and 2 in the shoulders, but hindsight will help me if I make this again - and hopefully may help someone reading this. If this does not fit well in the shoulders, it won’t sit on the body without fuss. Also, the elegance of the design is in the fitted shoulder (with the slight shawl collar and fitted sleeve).
- In the end I opted neither to decrease nor to increase on the body, beneath the bust. I knitted it straight at 169 stitches till bind off (~41.6”).
- I believe that the centre back stockinette detail (which is duplicated on the side body and sleeves), is quite pivotal to the fit of the design. This sweater is heavy for size (though I’ve used ultra-light wool, it’s still a chunky weight cardigan, which uses lots of yarn). It’s also knitted seamlessly. These slipped stockinette details provide structure for the garment because the slipped stitches on the RS create a strand of yarn on the WS, which gives additional structure, somewhat akin to side seams (in pieced garments).
- Having said that the detail is important for structural integrity, it’s important that the WS “float” is not made too tightly, which will result in the stockinette slip stitch detail puffing out (convexly from the flat surface of the sweater) because there’s not enough space within the float for the stockinette detail to lie flat. Leave enough slack in the float so that the detail can lie flat - but not only for aesthetic reasons. If you make this float tight on all “seams”, you might actually sacrifice a meaningful amount of circumference in the cardigan because you’ll effectively be tightening the 3 stitch span of the detail multiple times per RS row.
- I LOVE knitting with the Lamana Como Grande, which seems to have more integrity than the DK version (which I also like very much). I really hope it wears well because it is much lighter-weight even than the yarn called for (Woolfolk Luft). The Como Grande is a bit more expensive per skein than the Luft, though - since you get more yardage with the Como Grande - it evens out in terms of cost / number of balls required. Mind you, both yarns come in 50g balls and spending 24.00 CDN per ball, before shipping and tax (which adds about 15% onto this cost), is not inexpensive. I’ll have spent $275 on the yarn to make this cardigan.
- My optimal sweater-weight is no heavier than 250g and I’m happy to wear something lighter still. This sweater will weigh closer to 400g (385g) but I’ll use the garment as an outer layer or blazer. The only way I’ll be able to incorporate chunky yarn into my wardrobe (and it’s not my preferred weight for many reasons, though it does have it’s time and place), is by ensuring that I buy the lightest-weight version of the yarn I can find. I hope that more versions of soft light-weight chunky yarn become available given new technology.
- I made the sleeves and body slightly shorter than suggested (because I predicted that the yarn would relax adequately to add an inch of length with pinning - I was right, fortunately), and I didn’t increase the circumference of the body below the bust. I also made something akin to the second size (skewing between the size 1 and the size 3 in circumference).
- I used 2 fewer balls than I purchased - 260 yards. That’s 137 yards less than what the size 2 calls for (1160 yards). Had I known, I could have shaved 50 bucks off the cost of this project. Live and learn. In truth, not having enough of this yarn would have been seriously stressful, given that it’s not available everywhere/dye lots etc. But I’m definitely a person who has no issues playing yarn chicken because I don’t want remnants in small amounts hanging around my stash - esp in a yarn weight that I rarely, if ever, use.
- The sleeves were too long (as I sensed they may be) so, after blocking, I ripped back 1 inch on each. That reclaimed 5g of yarn…
- I didn’t work ribbing on sleeves and hem, as instructed. I did a 2st icord after knitting a final row/round in which the purl bumps are RS facing - which makes the bind off looks like part of the garter fabric as there is no divet / “valley” between the final garter row and the beginning the icord. The last purl bump effectively melds into the bind off. If you start the icord after a row with the “v”s, not bumps, you’ll obtain a look that emphasizes the icord. While I’m not a huge fan of icord at jumper hems, I find it very lovely with garter stitch and it gives the final object a more refined look vs the more sporty look of the designer’s version.
Update:Frogged on Aug 18, 2023. I didn’t wear this at all. Not sure I’m thrilled by the colour (I’m really done with my blue phase). And it just wasn’t particularly flattering, even though it fit well. It’s a lot of garter which, sometimes, can end up looking too handmade IMO).
11-01-2022
Preblocked Dimensions:
Neckband width at back neck: 2.75”
Length from base of back neck (where it meets body) to hem: 22.25”
Length of side body from underarm: 13.75”
Arm length from underarm to cuff: 15.5” (these are a bit on the long side so that you can maximize width on the upper sleeve without sacrificing length)
Shoulder to back centre neck: 10” on diagonal
Shoulder width: ~3” but hard to determine unless worn…
Total circumference at bust: 40” (will relax)
Post-blocked Dimensions:
Neckband width at back neck: 3”
Length from base of back neck (where it meets body) to hem: 24”
Length of side body from underarm: 14”
Arm length from underarm to cuff: 15.25” (This is after I ripped back 1” on each cuff because these blocked too long.)
Shoulder to back centre neck: 10” on diagonal
Shoulder width: ~3” but hard to determine unless worn…
Total circumference at bust: 39” (It surprised me that this didn’t grow given how my gauge swatch blocked, but there’s entirely adequate coverage over the bust. It does separate slightly at the body hem, which lands at my lower hip, but that’s fine because I like that look…
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