This is my first top-down jumper, and I’ve only knit a few small stranded projects.

It hasn’t turned out as fitted as it should be but that’s due to my peculiar body measurements and in-between swatching and knitting my gauge loosened from 26s per 4” to closer to 25s per 4”. Oops!

I think it came out alright for a first top-down jumper and feels warm. You knit and you learn!

Knitting notes:

My row gauge isn’t matching so there’ll be some maths involved in this project.

16 June - I’ve completed the stranded section. I held the yarn in two hands and knit loosely so I will need to tug the stitches in to shape later. The top section fits nicely so far.

17 June - A few times in the yoke I have only knit two rounds in between increases instead of three to adjust for my row gauge.

For the yoke I placed a marker halfway along the front and back, as well as at the start and midway point. This allowed me to use M1R and M1L increases that point to the side.

18 June - When I got to dividing for the sleeve, I started the final round of increases a short distance before the start marker, did the round of increases up until 32 st before the start marker and then placed the following 63 stitches on scrap yarn for the sleeve. This meant that my (fairly invisible anyway) M1R and M1L increases remain on the right/left of the front and back. (following the pattern instructions would have shifted the starting point of the round and skewed the placement of the increases).

It looks to be fitting okay. It’s time for more maths to make sure I fit the waist decreases to my row gauge.

26 June - The body is complete! I made it a bit longer than the pattern and I did a lot of adjustments for where I placed the waist decreases and increases to try and adjust for my different row gauge and my personal fit. It’s currently fitting looser than I hoped for but it feels cosy and I think it will have a better fit when I wash it.

I joined the fourth ball of grey yarn on the last few rows of the ribbing. Now it’s on to the sleeves!

28 June - First sleeve completed (I’ll take the next photo when both are done). I again modified the location of decreases to work with my gauge and only went down to 48 stitches to match the looseness of the rest of the jumper.

1 July - Finished!