This is a super-cute sweater with so the chance to use up stash and play around with colours. Despite my model making goofy faces, she loves the sweater. Don’t be alarmed if you have never steeked before. It is simple to do, even though it is unnerving cutting your knitting for the first time. Believe me - the stitches hold!

Thanks for letting me test Jennifer.

Test thread here

Yarn Requirements - started out with a partial of CC1 (fluoro rose) and a full skein of the other 3. I didn’t weigh the skeins before starting - just when I finished (oops!) so if they were overweight, my numbers will be off a bit.

• 40 grams left of colour 2 (purple basil) at start of sleeves. 25 grams left at end.
• 52 grams left of colour 3 (silver fox) at start of sleeves. 18 grams left at end. -34 grams of colour 4 (onyx) left after sweater finished.

Mods:

• instead of 7 alternating stitches for steek chart, I kept the 2 outside as the CC and purled them, which helps when there are rows with no stranding - the the picture from the wrong side. Very easy to stitch with this guide.
• ended up with 140 stitches for body (plus steek) as this equals 28 inches per gauge (not including the button band), vs. 146 stitches in the pattern.
• for hem, I cast off the steek stitches and knit the hem back and forth in the corrugated rib, so I wouldn’t have the facing from the steek folded back on the hem.
• for buttonbands, bind off on WS but all purl (this may be in the final pattern version).
• used CC 1 and 4 for sleeve hem instead of 3 and 4.
• 87 stitches for front bands (more than pattern) and 87 stitches for neckband (less than pattern).
• took my own advice and knit the last RS row in all MC (black) for the neckband, so there is a nice black edge at the top.
• stopped decreasing sleeve stitches at 39 (4 more than pattern), as I knit tighter in the round when knitting stranded. Made the sleeves longer than the pattern.

Mods I should have done:

• don’t knit a CC stitch beside the steek, as I lost 1/2 stitch when I picked up for buttonbands. Or, pick up stitches for the buttonbands from the horizontal yarn between the steek stitch and first outside stitch (vs. picking up from the leg of outside stitch) - see the Ann Kingstone tutorial noted in the pattern here
• catch floats for sleeves (including the end of the yoke before splitting off the sleeves) more frequently, to prevent fingers from snagging the floats.
• for the hems, knit a row of the MC (black) in pattern before binding off, as the pink wants to poke out, and I like it framed by the black as it’s supposed to be.

Pattern Gauge: 20 sts and 24 rows = 4”/ 10cm in stockinette, and in stranded stockinette on larger needles after blocking.