You know how something bugs you? It may not bother anyone else, but you just don’t like it. That’s how I felt about the leaf motif on my Mulled Cider pocket. It looked like a drawer handle to me! Once seen, it cannot be unseen!
So, I changed it!
I like it much better (I don’t think either picture captures the real color!). I also sewed cotton lining into the pocket. So now I can say this is D O N E ! ! !
Out here in the still snowy Rockies, it’s Sunday morning for another few minutes — the perfect time to post about my Sunday Morning pullover designed by none other than Carol Sunday.
This is another very wearable sweater. I’ve been gravitating towards those in between more challenging knits. I worked on this over a few months while watching TV or taking a break from color work knitting.
The pattern, as one expects with Carol’s designs, is very clearly written. Her patterns just always seem to work. This one is a bottom up raglan, knit in pieces and seamed. The raglan shaping is done with decorative cables. It has a split hem and a folded knit neckline. I made no real changes to the pattern except for lengthening it a few inches.
I used Carol’s newest yarn, Heaven, which is 100% cashmere. Need I say more? It’s luscious to knit with and creates a wonderfully soft, warm fabric. My photos don’t truly capture the rich color — Fog is a deep, bluish gray.
I will be wearing this sweater a lot — especially if our weather stays as wintry as it’s been. (We’re getting more snow tomorrow!)
Chloe — I didn’t deliberately draw the neck in (although I am happy with the fit). I think mine has less ease than the one on the model. If I’d made a size up (which I did consider), it would probably fit more like that.
Gretchen (aka Stashdragon) asked me to share how I added the pocket to my Mulled Cider Cardigan. I am happy to oblige!!
The first thing I did was decide on the location of the pocket. This is the main advantage of an afterthought pocket: you can try on the garment and place the pocket where you want it. I also wanted the pocket to end at the top of the ribbing. Most pockets are placed closer to the side “seam” than to the front edge. I outlined the pocket position in white thread, which I removed once I decided on exact placement:
The pocket was 28 sts wide. You simply snip the yarn at the top center point of the pocket, and pull out the sts, placing both the top and bottom sts on knitting needles or holders (or waste yarn). Also, I recommend marking the same 28 sts at the bottom of the pocket with clip on markers or waste yarn.
My plan was to rip out four rows and then reknit these rows in 2×2 ribbing using a smaller needle, increasing 2 sts to make up the gauge difference. Then bind off using new yarn. The following picture shows the two sets of live sts and the strands of yarn I pulled out to reknit in ribbing.
I did all of that but didn’t like the way it looked…so I ripped it out again and knit it back up in reverse stockinette. Then I added new yarn to knit a ribbed band at the top. I added the same 2 sts as before for gauge and two additional seam sts on the sides. This made the pocket a little higher. Once done, it probably didn’t look any better than the first go around!! 🙁
I seamed the ribbed pocket band to the sweater. I then attached yarn to the other set of live sts and knit the lining. I did not count rows, but rather went by look. When it was long enough, I bound off the sts and sewed the bottom edge along the transition point from ribbing to reverse stockinette. I sewed the side edges as invisibly as I could using sewing thread.
A note about reverse stockinette: it’s not as easy to work with as regular stockinette IMHO. It’s usually harder to get a nice seam and it’s harder to sew down a pocket. There aren’t any bumps to sew into like I did on my Ouzo:
On Ouzo, the pockets were not done as afterthoughts, but the lining still needed to be sewn down. It is much easier to do when you can use the bumps as camouflage!
I also thought a fabric inner pocket lining would be nice, so keys, etc. don’t poke through the knit fabric. I will get to that when I get to it!! 🙂
:groan: Yes, I am finished with Mulled Cider! After blocking, the Harrisville WATERshed (color Cheshire) got really soft. If I could have managed it, I probably should have gone down a needle size, but I had trouble knitting this as it was! I made too many mods to count, but here is the final:
This next picture is closest to the correct color:
I decided that a jacket needs a pocket:
So I cut and added a pocket:
Someone had used leaf toggles on her version, and I had the Nicky Epstein book (Knitting Beyond the Edge), so I added the leaves to my pocket! I used my “bead as shank” method on the buttons, which worked perfectly.
This isn’t my favorite sweater, and certainly isn’t a showstopper, but it qualifies as a workhorse. We need a few of those for every day wear!!
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