I’m testing once again for the Queen of Tailored Knitwear, Jutta von Hinterm Stein. Love her designs as well as her ingenious construction methods. Her patterns offer inclusive sizing and many fitting options. This one has numerous waist and hip shaping variations for a perfect fit. There’s even an option to add bust darts. I opted for an A-line silhouette with no bust darts.

Although Jutta is known for her classic, form fitting designs, she’s showing her softer, sweeter side with this “Guardian Angel.” I still work full time, but managed to finish mine in a little more than a week. It’s a super easy and quick project. So comfy too!

When casting on for the neckline, do so as tightly as possible. Even so, my neckline appeared extremely wide until I added the i-cord bind off with the much smaller needles. That brought the neckline to a perfect circumference. So don’t be alarmed, if your neckline seems wide to start.

The eyelet dotted sleeves are open underneath for added summer air-conditioning. Since I used a very drapey, soft yarn, I reinforced the exposed underarm sections with an i-cord bind-off that matches the neckline finish. This brought the underarm area in and upward a little so that my bra would not show. (Jutta incorporated the i-cord into the final version of the pattern.) I call these “butterfly sleeves.” The bottom edges of sleeves and body are finished with a pretty and very easy picot bind off. Since I have long arms, I had to do 10 more rows for the sleeves than what was suggested in the pattern for my size.

To block garments made with this yarn, I put them into a kettle of warm water to soak for a bit. Then I gently squeeze out excess water and throw the garment into a warm dyer with a bunch of dry, clean towels. The first time laundered in this manner, a garment of this size will shrink about 2 inches (5 cm) in length and 1 inch (2.54 cm) in width. So allow for this in knitting, if you launder in this manner. The sweater will come out of the dryer wrinkle free and looking beautiful. Jutta did a nice job of creating a decorative picot edge that does not roll on the bottom of the sleeves and body.

Instead of an i-cord bow at center front, I used a narrow satin ribbon bow tacked on with sewing thread. Singe the end of the polyester ribbon with a flame to keep the ends from fraying.

I highly recommend this super easy and cute pattern. Jutta has included both charted and written instructions for the eyelet sleeves. So there is something for everyone in this well written and thoroughly tested pattern.

Modifcations to the pattern should not be necessary any more as the neckline and sleeve fitting issues (during testing) were corrected in the final version of the pattern. So you should not have to make any adaptions to achieve a good result.

Needles Used:

Size 4 US (3.5 mm) - Sleeve and body, including picot bind-offs.

Size 2 US (2.75 mm) - I-cord for neck

Size 1.5 US (2.5 mm) - I-cord under arm

These needle sizes are quite a bit smaller than those recommended in the pattern. Although very soft, this 100% cotton yarn is very round, with zero memory and almost no stretch. Although this yarn is classified as “fingering weight”, I consider this to work up more like a sport weight due to its round construction and lack of memory. So the results will be quite different than when you knit with wool or alpaca. I chose a pattern 1 size larger than I would normally choose for myself because I prefer considerable positive ease. This could possibly end up being a gift, but I’m the one who has to model it for the required photos. The yarn has lovely drape when knitted with this size needle.

Weight of finished garment: 9.7 oz (275 grams)

Length Measurements (after shrinking in warm dryer):

Side length from underarm - 13” (33 cm)
(shrank 1.75”)

Sleeve length from underarm - 5.5” (14 cm)
(shrank .5”)

Sleeve length from to of shoulder to lower edge - 11.75” (30 cm)
(shrank 1.75”)

Neckline circumference (i-cord) - 25” (63.5 cm)
(shrank 1”)

I-cord bind off and grafting video tutorial

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