I am knitting my first machine knitted round yoke sweater. Following the pattern and instructions from the Machine Knitting Round Yokes Facebook Group, patterns and instructions by Irene Woods. I can’t say enough about Irene’s generosity and expertise. She has provided the pathway for any machine knitter to have success with a round yoke sweater.

I am knitting the bulky cardigan in size XXL.
Stitch size 6 for stockinette, 7 for fair isle, and 5 for ribbing.

Total Yarn Used I don’t know how to make this show up in the yarn listing, but total MC (aqua) used was 19.9oz, and total CC (pale green) used was 7.4 oz, which included some used as waste yarn.

Decreases The pattern calls for knitting a plain row, making decreases, knitting back, leaving spaces between needles, and then transferring all stitches to fewer needles - either with waste yarn, circular knitting needle, or garter bar. I changed that up. I knitted one plain row, made decreases, then took stitches off on garter bar, reduced number of needles and replaced stitches. I tried the other way, and it left oversized stitches where the decreases were made.

Garter Bar OMG! SOooo worth it! I plan to make a set of weighted cast on rags, as depicted in The Answer Lady YouTube video. Thinking more about that, I guess I would have to hang the weighted cast on rag, then a ravel cord, then the waste yarn, so that when I was done with a section I could remove the weights, but still have the waste yarn for later construction. MUST use needle stopper! Use credit card to check all latches open before setting garter bar to hooks. Use long side of credit card to close all latches before pulling stitches back on to garter bar. Pull back on garter bar at all times when transferring stitches from and to needle hooks, and tilt the side of the bar towards you up a bit. This helps to keep yarn from splitting around tips of tines or the ends of the hooks and getting stuck. Keep weight on fabric when on garter bar, or stitches will pop up and get caught in hooks before you want to put them back in hooks.

Neckline In Irene’s YouTube video she talks about folding over the extra seaming stitch and putting it on top of the next neckline stitch when hanging the neckline. That is not pointed out in the pattern. She also says the neck in her pattern is a bit wide - she does not like a neckband that comes right up to your neck. I DO like that kind of neckline, so I decreased 16 stitches along the neck when rehanging - 6 each side and 4 in back. I’m quite happy with the result. (See “In Retrospect”. Not so happy with the neckline after all.) Although going over the head is not a consideration since this is a cardigan, it would, in fact, go over my head with no trouble. I also used the ribber to knit a 1x1 rib for the neckline, knitted 8 rows, and did the Smiles and Frowns cast off as shown in this Diana Sullivan video. OMG! This technique is SO much easier!! I used to do circular knitting and then fold it back to do a grafted bind off. But this method is vastly superior.

The Use of Ravel Cord AND Waste Yarn The pattern calls for beginning with waste yarn, THEN a row of ravel cord, and THEN knitting live stitches with garment yarn. I can see where maybe this would be useful to avoid the waste yarn getting split and not pulling away easily at the end, BUT, I found having all those ravel cords (mine are all on bobbins) hanging around and getting tangled to be very annoying. Next time I will just knit the waste yarn directly to the garment yarn.

Ribbed Hem I ended up using 1x1 ribbing with the ribber, at SS6, for 13 rows. Not the 12 called for, because I foolishly began the ribbing on the left side, but wanted to knit off onto waste yarn from the right, because (in this particular case) I had an even number of rib stitches, and so had the last stitch on the main bed on the right, which is the one you want to start the above described bind off method with.

Button Band I plan a vertically ribbed button band, with vertical button holes, made with partial knitting, or bridging technique. I estimate something like 150 stitches for the length, so I am going to knit a band of 160 stitches for the button band, and count how many rows I need to unravel to make it fit, then use that number for the button hole band. 3-13-2023 I’m knitting the button band on 4 main bed and 4 ribber needles. WY, ravel cord, Diana Sullivan’s Lazy Ladder Ribber Cast On with waste, then MY tightest tension ZZ row, SS1/1 2 circular rows, SS3/3 for 160 rows, then WY. After stitching to left front, I ended up frogging 13 rows, for a total of 147 stitches in the button band, finishing the edge by grafting. Even with the smaller stitch size it seems like the band is slightly longer than the front. I’ll see how it looks after I’ve washed and dried the whole thing.
Planning for the button hole band, I’ve worked out the following plan for placing 9 vertical button holes:
2 sts at bottom
4 sts button hole
13 sts
4 sts button hole
14 sts
4 sts button hole
13 sts
4 sts hole
14 sts
4 sts hole
13 sts
4 sts hole
13 sts
4 sts hole
14 sts
4 sts hole
13 sts
4 sts hole
2 sts at top
TOTAL = 147 sts

The button hole band came out very well. I made quite an effort to keep the same number of rows between holes, but going from even to odd numbers of rows meant starting the bridged stitches for the buttonholes on alternating sides, which meant that both edges were just a little messy. I like the even spacing, but might spend more time considering this other issue.

In Retrospect I am more pleased with this project in some ways than I thought I would be, less pleased in others. I am quite pleased with myself for finally starting it, and actually finishing it. More pleased with the bulky knit than I expected. Much more pleased with this cheap, acrylic yarn, after washing, than I was while working with it.

• Really displeased with certain aspects of the fit, which I will attempt to remedy in the next attempt. I pretty much hate the color, but hey, I finished it on St Paddy’s, so will wear it out tonight.
• After knitting short rows on fronts, there is no specificity in the pattern about exactly how to proceed. I went back to the instructions for the plain front, and zeroed out the RC, then knitted 68 rows. This made the fronts longer than the backs by the number of short rows. Ugh! I noticed, when stitching fronts to backs that the fronts were considerably longer. I’m not going to redo it, but lesson learned.
• I don’t really love how the front hangs down so low, compared to the back. I think I might not do the short rows next time. And, now that the sweater is finished, I really HATE how loose the neckline is! It needs to go MUCH smaller. I hate how the whole front hangs down, it looks dumpy. The bottom of the yoke is at least 5”, perhaps more, lower in the front than in the ba
• Even though I reduced the number of stitches for the neck, it’s still bigger than I like. I think I will add the full last tier, AND make the neckband itself wider.
• I LOVE the loose ribbing at cuffs and hem. Done at the same stitch size as the main tension (6 in this case).
• Arms are just a tad long. They’re OK, but I might shorten by just a bit for the next one. Actually, they are better after washing and drying. Could be just a bit shorter, or not.
• This sweater is comfy and really warm! I didn’t think I’d like the bulky sweater, but it does have a very handknit look, and nice to wear, even in yucky acrylic. I did not enjoy working with this yarn. It felt squeeky and stiff in the way that acrylic can. But, once machine washed and dried, it became wonderfully soft.

Errata

1. There is no mention of doubling the seam stitch back onto the body when rehanging the neckline.
2. Stitch decreases in Right Front Yoke:

Tier 1 L says: Every 7th needle 2x; every 6th needle 7x; every 7th needle 1x = total of 10 decreases. Should be same as Left Front Yoke: Every 7th needle 2x; every 6th needle 9x; every 7th needle 1x = total of 12 decreases

Tier 1 XXL says: 7th n. 3x; 6th n. 8x; 7th n. 2x = total of 13 decreases. Should be same as Left Front Yoke: 7th n. 3x; 6th n. 8x, 7th n. 3x = total of 12 decreases

Tier 1 XXXL says: 7th n. 5x; 6th n. 3x; 7th n. 3x = total of 11 decreases. Should be same as Left Front Yoke: 6th n. 16x = total of 16 decreases

Tier 3 XL says; 4th n. 5x; 3rd n 8x; 4th n. 4x = total of 17 decreases. Should be same as Left Front Yoke: 4th n. 5x; 3rd n. 6x, 4th n. 5x = total of 16 decreases.