12-04-2022

I first knit this sweater, with a couple of design mods, in February - https://www.ravelry.com/projects/KristinM100/moon-set-pul... and it was very enjoyable. At the time I folllowed the instructions for size 1, lengthening the upper body (above the split for sleeves) to account for my full-bust measurement.

I decided to knit this sweater again (with the same design mods I applied in the last version) because I love the construction method. It’s so simple and ingenious. I gave the original pullover to M for her birthday and I realized, after much fussing with some fingering-weight super wash yarn I had not been able to find the right pattern for, that I really want the Moonset sweater knitted with slimmer, drapier yarn than the pattern calls for.

About Sizing: Because I’ve knitted this previously (first size with modified vertical measurements), I’ve opted to use those vertical measurements and, to get to the appropriate horizontal measurements, I’m knitting the stitch counts of the third size.

Changes I made to the pattern:

• As per my first version, I worked the sleeve cuffs and hem in 1x1 rib.

• I forgot that, in the instructions, the fronts are worked for 1.25” longer after the V is joined to get to the desired depth before joining the front to the back. As such, I made the fronts 10.75” in depth before joining the V (my preferred front-body depth based on my previous version and also, interestingly, the depth of the third size - the horizontal measurements for which I cast on). This means my V neck is 1.25” deeper than instructed. Not sure if I’d have done this if I had been paying attention - esp as super wash yarn is apt to grow vertically - but the V has a wide overlap, effectively diminishing the depth by about 1” so I think it will be ok. Also, the front body is shorter than it seems because it folds into the back body by about an inch (the back shoulder seam sits below the sholder. I don’t mind a deep V as long as it’s not ridiculous. Update: the final v depth of 9” provides a great fit for me.

• I added 2 st to the front circumference to maintain the curve of the V neck border given that I knitted the band longer before joining the V. Even given this, the bust circ will be just over 38” (232st). Though my full bust is 38.5” circ, I do anticipate that this yarn is going to stretch and I don’t want more than a couple of inches of positive ease over the course of time. Update: this was a good call.

• At 4” below arm opening (the point at which the fabric covers the base of my full bust - where it meets my underbust), I decreased 12st (~ 2”): 3 decrease rounds of 4 st (2 on either side of the side markers) over approx 3” or 22R at my gauge, given that my waist is short.

Dec R1 - sl BOR marker, k1, k2tog, k to 3 st before next m, ssk, K1, slm m, k1, k2t0g, k to3 st before BOR marker, ssk, k1
K 10R
Dec R2
K 10R
Dec R3
The decreases, above, take me to 7” below the arm hole. Knit plain till 15” below arm opening and then start 1x1 rib.
I’m at 220st for the circumference - 36”.

• I used 213g of the yarn to get to 22” of length. I’d prefer another inch of ribbing but I could only get to 2” of rib depth before I started being concerned that I might run out of yarn.
• This left 143g of yarn to do 2 rather full sleeves AND to bind off the body hem. I estimated the body hem bind off would take 4g so this left me with 69g for each sleeve. Since I had 48g left after finishing the sleeves, that means I used ~96g for 2 sleeves - less than I would have imagined.

Sleeves:

• I alternated between 2 balls for each sleeve - one ball on each sleeve was unique and the other was used on the alternate sleeve. While I was worried that this wouldn’t be enough to keep pooling in check, it worked fine…
• Cast on 84st and then decreased every other round till I got to 76 st, over 7R, (or 12.5” at my gauge) aka 1.75” of positive ease but which will not be as bishop-y as I might have envisioned.
• After the decrease section, I began helical knitting with 2 balls.
• It would appear that it took 9g to get to 3” of length from the sleeve cast on edge - but I worked decreases in this segment. The sleeve-length of my first version was 19” (including a 3” cuff).
• At 8” of length, I’d used up 23g of yarn and I had 45g left to work with. I used up 1/3 of yarn (apportioned for this sleeve) remaining, to get to the elbow.

A Rambling Account of How I Opted to Proceed with the Limited Yarn I Had Left:

• I figured out grams it takes to knit 2” of sleeve in stockinette on US4 and then estimated that it would take twice that weight of yarn to knit the 1x1 rib on US2 needles. (Note - There will be half as many stitches at the cuff but knitted on a smaller needle and 20R instead of 15R.)

• OK - 16R = 2” = 7g. That means the 2” of 76st of stockinette used 7g. As such, keep 14g for the 2” cuff. As I have 38g remaining of the yarn for this sleeve, when I subtract 14g from that number, I have 24g remaining to work with.

• 16R/7g = 2.285 - so every 2.2R I use a gram of yarn. I can do 52 more rounds with 24g of yarn. And at my gauge, 52R is 6.5” on the sleeve, in stockinette on the US4 needle.

Should I prioritize my remaining yarn on longer sleeves or shorter sleeves and a longer body?

• Either way, I know I want at least 2 more inches of stockinette on sleeve before going to the 2” of ribbing.

• The longer sleeve option: That 2 more inches would use 16R of my 52R - leaving me with 36R-worth (~16g) of yarn. That could conservatively get me ~4 more inches still of sleeve. If I go this route, I’d have 16” of sleeve from armhole cast on (which sits well below the underarm) before doing 2” of 1x1 rib, taking the length to 18” from armhole cast on. Since my shoulder top starts 3.75” above that, this would give me a full length sleeve - and potentially longer than I need. I wouldn’t get any additional length in the 21.5” body.

• The split the difference option: Alternatively, since each ribbed round on the body takes 0.5g of yarn - I could get 10 more rows/ 1” of body hem for 5g of yarn and shorten the stockinette segment of the sleeve by that same 5g above the cuff - leaving me with ~11g of yarn before starting the cuff. But then my body hem ribbing would be longer than my cuff ribbing (3” on body hem vs 2” on cuff).

• Split the difference is the option I went with so I had to change the proportion of the sleeve by adding 1” to the rib and subtracting the same amount of yarn-by-weight from the above-the-cuff length. I estimated that the extra 1” of rib on cuff would take 7g (2x the amount that would be used in the stockinette portion). So I would have 4g (9R) of the original 16g left for stockinette, below the 2” (16R) of stockinette already accounted for, and above the 3” of rib on US2 needles. Update: From sleeve CO to where I began the ribbing, l worked 12.25”. Add in the depth of the drop shoulder and 3” of rib and it should have been longer than the 15.25” it was pre-blocking. Blocking did lengthen it nicely though…

• How I decreased from 76st sleeve circumference to 38 st: On the larger needle (US4), I simply k2togged all the way around. The issues came as a result of working the helical knitting simultaneously but I seem to have figured out how to manage that over a few tries. I somehow moved the slipped stitches around so that I wouldn’t be out of phase for the K1/P1 ribbing on US 2 that directly followed the decrease round. It involved moving from 3 to 2 transitional (slipped) st between the 2 balls that somehow became 3 st again after a couple of ribbed rounds.

• After completing sleeve 1, I still had 25g of yarn. So I really did overestimate the amount of yarn I’d need to knit a sleeve - though I also modified the sleeves in length and width to preserve yarn and the outcome of which was hard to estimate accurately. It took ~45g of yarn to knit the first sleeve. I could have gone longer but I like the length. I’ll consider lengthening the sleeves if I feel like it at a later time. But the yarn is going to bloom and drape nicely when blocked and worn, so I don’t want to go too long. Update: In retrospect I might have made the sleeve cuff slightly less snug. It works perfectly on my forearm / stays up but getting it over the widest part of my hand is tricky. I tried a couple of diff bind offs on diff needle sizes but, really, I think the trick would have been to have kept 4 more st on the needles (40 st at start of cuff).

Pre-blocked Dimensions:
Armcyce depth (vertical line) at arm cast on: 7”
Total length from upper back where it meets the collar: 22.25”
Depth of v neck from upper back below the collar to the tip of v: 9.25”
Length of body from under arm: ~13”
Sleeve circumference: 12”
Sleeve Length starting at sleeve cast on: 15.25” (3”of which is cuff)
Cuff circumference: 6” stretched”
Bust circumference: 39.5”
Hip circumference: 36”
Width from neck (where it meets collar) to sleeve cast on: 11”
Back neck width (outer edge to outer edge of the neckband): 5”

Post-blocked Dimensions:
Armcyce depth at arm cast on: 6.75”
Total length from back upper back where it meets the collar: 21.25”
Depth of v neck from upper back below the collar to the tip of v: 9” - to the base of the v - 1 inch of this is cross over aka not open v
Length of body from under arm: 13.5”
Sleeve circumference: 11.5”
Sleeve Length starting at sleeve cast on: 16” (3”of which is cuff)
Cuff circumference: 4.5 unstretched”
Bust circumference: 38.5”
Hip circumference: 33” (unstretched)
Width from neck (where it meets collar) to sleeve cast on: 11”
Back neck width (outer edge to outer edge of the neckband): 4.75”

About the yarn: I can’t say that I’d recommend alternating skeins on this project, if avoidable. Effectively 1/3 of the pullover is knitted flat, with held stitches at certain points, and the tangle was real. Also - I don’t know what motivated me to buy super wash yarn for a sweater (something I haven’t done in years because I know the challenges and it’s not my fave feel). Actually, I bought it because I wanted a lot of drape, somehow forgetting that knitting with super wash takes concentration if you want the finished garment to fit as desired, what with all the stretching it is prone to. Having said this, the Sonder base is reslient, beautiful and the colour is gorgeous. I really enjoy the shimmery quality of this colourway. And I do think this yarn will be very good for ensuring drape, something I wished there had been more of in my previous version.

Final Thoughts:

• I’m pleasantly surprised that the yarn recovered as the gauge swatch predicted it would. At least before wearing, the garment has not grown beyond expectation either vertically or horizontally - though I did keep the hem on a stitch holder until trying on the sweater after blocking. I didn’t need to add or remove any rounds to get to my desired length and resisted the urge to do so given that the sweater may still grow vertically over time. While I didn’t use any blocking pins, the sleeves def grew longer than any of the other measurements.

• I got the slink I was looking for in this fabric. The colour way is not one I ever wear (a very tonal sage green that veers into camo in its darker sections) but I like it. The yarn is beautifully dyed - complex and replete with different tones. There’s a blip of saturated royal blue that appears in a few stitches randomly situated throughout the fabric (like maybe 4 or 5). One of the skeins came with a tiny blue patch (obvs a place that the dye stuck to) which recurred and I wasn’t prepared to cut those out. There were already so many ends to weave in and I was trying to be prudent with my yarn.

• I know it’ll be a while before I knit another sweater with tonal yarn. It’s extra effort to mitigate pooling but the truth is, you still can’t control the outcome. Having said this, I’m really happy with the end result I’ve achieved with this yarn. Alas, this project has convinced me that I hate helical knitting. I mean, I’ll do it on the occasions when it’s required, but I’d much prefer not to have to. Working with two balls is ok but once you get to 3 balls it turns into a kind of irritating chaos.

• I also won’t be knitting another sweater with super wash merino for a long time. Seriously, not being able to spit splice is a total pain. And this very drapey, light-ish coloured fabric requires pretty expert end-weaving. For the most part I did alright but there are a couple of spots on the back that could be neater. While one of my fave sweaters is knit with a superwash merino/silk blend and it has held its shape well, full super wash is very slippery to work with and so unknowable. You have to be a much better knitter to get good fit (and even stitch tension) with super wash than with untreated animal fibre. As it is, I was conservative with my vertical measurements and I went for minimal positive ease. But I did want a very drapey garment - which I got. One day, I might try making this pattern again with a non-superwash fine fingering weight wool/silk blend.

My gauge on:

US4 Pre-blocked: 26st and 34R (changed to 30R over knitting process, see below) in 4”
US4 Post-blocked: 24.5st and 36R (changed to 32R“ over knitting process, see below) in 4”

US5 Pre-blocked: 24.5st and 33R in 4”
US5 Post-blocked: 23.5st and 33R in 4”

OK - I’ve decided to use the US4 needle and to make the sweater in the 3rd size, to get myself something akin to the first size, given that my gauge is 14% smaller horizontally and 16% smaller vertically (this actually evens out as my gauge changes, see below).

Given this, the 44” bust should knit up at 38”. That’s still 0.5” smaller than my full bust BUT I’m working with some very drapey superwash and I don’t want this to become a baggy finished object. I’ll utilize the vertical measurements from my last project to ensure that I knit long enough (in terms of desired proportions by inch).

Note that this yarn does shrink slightly vertically and horizontally (from pre-blocked to post-blocked measurements) BUT particularly with vertical measurements, I’m going to knit to the length I got last time (if maybe slightly shorter) again, to reduce the chance for serious sweater growth. I do not want this to become a tunic.

Gauge Change:So, having blocked the back piece (prior to casting on the fronts) and re-reviewing vertical gauge - perhaps in light of increased weight of the fabric as it gets longer - my gauge has changed. It appears to be 7.5” pre-blocked and 8” post-blocked. Weirdly, I’m pretty much getting row gauge as if I were knitting with a DK yarn on needles 2 sizes larger). OK…