sweaters | Italian Dish Knits

Archive for the ‘sweaters’ Category

“Lilla Koftan” Little Cardigan

April 7, 2017

Lilla Koftan sleeve and front

I love going into yarn shops wherever I travel, don’t you? Ever since I walked into my first yarn shop in Chapel Hill, North Carolina when my oldest son was a baby in 1988, I was hooked. I love the women in yarn shops – so eager to help you and so excited about the yarn they sell. A good yarn shop has a big table where knitters come and work on their projects, either for the help or just for the friendship. Recently while visiting our son in college, I walked into a yarn shop in Evanston, Illinois – CloseKnit – and this shop was one of those great little yarn shops. The women were having a great time and laughing and there was a big table right in the middle of the shop. I saw this yarn on display with a little sample swatch knitted up and was so intrigued with it that I bought a couple of skeins. It’s a German yarn called Schachenmayr Extra Fine Merino 120 and, when knitted up, kind of looks like Fair Isle. I love it. But what’s really great about it is the texture – it’s extra fine merino, but has a really nice firmness to it that I like. It held up so well after blocking – sometimes wool can relax too much after blocking and I hate that. This yarn retained its structure.

Lilla Koftan top

Lilla Koftan upside down

This free (!) pattern is called “Lilla Koftan” which means “Little Cardigan” in Swedish. It is a pattern by Petra Orrbeck and I really liked it. It’s my favorite technique for a sweater: top down, seamless, sleeves put on holders and then knitted in the round. And it has a little garter yoke and garter trim. Perfect!

Lilla Koftan start of sleeve

I knit the whole thing on #4 circular Addi Lace needles and then did the sleeves using Magic Loop, instead of DPNs. If you need a tutorial on Magic Loop, here is mine (along with a video to help you). Magic Loop is my favorite way to knit in the round.

Lilla Koftan sleeve on needles

Using #4 needles and DK yarn, this made a tiny sweater – probably a 6 month size. So cute.

I modified the pattern just a tad:
1. I only did 3 buttonholes (because I like that look)
2. I did M1 increases instead of the yarn overs she suggested.
3. I did 22 rows for the body instead of 17 as the pattern says.
4. I did 11 rows of garter stitch for the trim instead of 9.
5. I did 22 rows stockinette for sleeves before garter trim

Lilla Koftan cardigan side view

Lilla Koftan stitches detail

This pattern, making it the size I did, took exactly 2 skeins of this yarn – I only had about 7 yards left! It was a close call. So that’s about 260 yards. This yarn is a DK weight although the company web site lists it as a Lace weight. That just is a mistake.

Lilla Koftan buttons

This is all the yarn I had left! If I want to make a little hat, I’ll have to get another skein.

Lilla Koftan leftover yarn

Thanks for stopping by and
I hope you’re making something!
Elaine

Pattern: Lilla Koftan
Needles: U.S. #4 circular
Yarn: Schachenmayr Merino Extra Fine Color 120 in Helsinki (494)
Ravelry Page

Posted in baby stuff, finished objects, sweaters | 11 Comments »

Garter Stitch Baby Sweater

January 29, 2017

This darling little sweater is another top down, no seam sweater – my favorite method of garment making. Plus I love the look of garter stitch, so this sweater had to be made. The little yoke, with its raglan yarn overs, was a sweet touch. I loved everything about this pattern.

I used Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Merino, a super soft worsted weight wool that is machine washable. I like using this for baby items. It’s so nice to knit with – and even softer than regular wool.

I love the look of little beige sweaters for babies, but I wanted to introduce a little color on this one, so I picked out an aqua color and did some two color knitting. This was done in garter stitch, so you may not be able to tell that it is simply a “knit one in beige, knit one in aqua” repeat. On the next row, you just knit the opposite colors over each stitch. It creates a stranded look with the colored yarn only if you hold the colored yarn in your right hand. If you want to see how I knit with two colors at once, you can see a video of this here.

This pattern calls for slipping the first stitch on every row on the front. This makes a really nice, flat decorative edge. However, if you miss just one stitch, like I did, it looks bad:

What to do? The mistake was glaringly right in the front. I came up with a solution – I crocheted a decorative edge over the top, using just a simple single crochet. It worked beautifully and I really liked the finished look of it:

crochet-edge-garter-sweater

I was able to find the perfect button for this sweater – a little aqua wooden button that was the sweetest finishing touch.

Thanks for dropping by,
Elaine

garter-stitch-sweater-front

Pattern: Garter Stitch Baby Jacket by Nancy Elizabeth Munroe
Yarn: Cascade 220 Merino Superwash in Tuffet & Aqua
Needles: #6 and #7
Ravelry Page

Posted in baby stuff, finished objects, knitting, sweaters | 10 Comments »

Baby Boy Textured Stitch Pullover Sweater & Pom Pom Hat

December 9, 2016

dino-sweater-hat

I just finished this little pullover sweater and hat for a little boy. Once again, this is a seamless construction with lots of knitting in the round. I may never make another garment with seams again! I really like knitting from the top down and having no seams to sew up.

dino-sweater-on-needles

The sweater is a pattern from Frogginette and is very detailed and well written. I knit the 12 month size and came out with a 20″ chest, which was exactly what the pattern said so my gauge must have been right on (did I do a gauge swatch – no, I’m so bad about that!). I knit this in Cascade yarns Superwash, so the baby’s mother can put the sweater in the washing machine. The yarn relaxed like crazy after I blocked it and I was concerned it relaxed too much but the gauge ended up correct, so I was okay. The color I used is 862 Walnut Heather.

dino-sweater-front-detail

dino-sweater-front

I used Addi Lace Circular needles, using Magic Loop. The Addi Lace were really nice on this project because the textured stitch pattern required a “knit 2 tog without dropping stitches off your needle then knit the first stitch again and then drop the stitches off” and it was easier to do with the very pointy lace needles.

dino-sweater-needle-detail

dino-sweater-collar

The hat pattern was just something I improvised and incorporated the textured stitch pattern from the sweater. It’s super easy – just knit a few rows of stockinette stitch so the edge curls and then knit a little square and cast off, doing a three-needle bindoff. Super simple. I added two pom poms, which I thought was cute.

dino-sweater-sewing-pom-poms

dino-hat

dino-hat-pom-pom

Hope you’re knitting something!

Elaine

If you’re on Instagram, you can follow me here.

Sweater Pattern: Boy Sweater from Frogginette
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Walnut Heather
Needles: #6 and 8 Circulars Addi Lace
Ravelry Page

Posted in baby stuff, finished objects, hats, knitting, sweaters | 2 Comments »

Shawl Baby Sweater and Garter Ear Flap Hat

November 14, 2016

garter-ear-flap-hat-shawl-sweater

I had to interrupt my Capella shawl knitting for something really important – a baby gift for a little boy! I knitted a little shawl sweater and a little hat with ear flaps. These were two new patterns that I had never knitted before and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them and can highly recommend them. And an added bonus: they are both free patterns!

shawl-sweater-detail

The baby sweater is a pattern called Baby Sophisticate by Linden Heflin. I especially loved the construction of this sweater because there are no seams to sew up! You knit in the round (my favorite) for the yoke, place stitches for the sleeves on holders, knit the body, bind off and then just place the sleeve stitches on your needles and knit those in the round. You then pick up stitches for the shawl collar and button placket. I knitted this sweater using my favorite Magic Loop method on circular methods. You can find a tutorial for it here.

The pattern page is here but if you would like to see some of the more than 8,000 sweaters that people on Ravelry have knitted from this pattern, you can see them here. I like to check out a project’s Ravelry page before I begin a project, so I can see how other people knitted the pattern, check out different color options and read notes and tips that people write about that pattern. If you are not a member of Ravelry, join now! It’s free, too.

The buttonholes were easy to do – just one YO and that’s it.

For the yarn, I inexplicably used an acrylic yarn. It was an impulse buy. I never buy acrylic yarn, but the colorway just jumped out at me. I used Vanna’s Choice Lions Brand yarn in Grey Marble. After I blocked the sweater, the yarn softened up a little. But I didn’t like knitting with it much – it doesn’t have any give, like wool.

Pattern: Baby Sophisticate Shawl Collar Sweater
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Lions Brand Acrylic in Grey marble
Needles: size #9 Addi Lace circular needles
Ravelry Page

_________________________________________________________________

THE HAT:

garter-ear-flap-hat

The little hat is so adorable – it’s a pattern called Garter Ear Flap Hat from Purl Soho. If you don’t know about Purl Soho, it’s a wonderful yarn shop in New York City. They have a fabulous web site. If you have never been on it, you will be amazed at the projects, tutorials, tips, patterns and ideas. And so many of the patterns are free!

garter-ear-flap-hat-tassel

I love the hat because the design is just a little different – a little whimsical. It’s a very easy, fast pattern. After casting on, you knit the two ear flaps in the round, using short rows, which I love to do. Then you continue on knitting the hat, shaping the crown in garter stitch. Easy peasy! I used my beloved Magic Loop method on circular needles.

garter-ear-flap-hat-3

I love the cute little tassel on the top – how sweet is that? Only takes a minute to make it. If you’d like to check out all the different versions of this little hat on Ravelry, the page is here.

garter-ear-flap-hat-detail

Pattern: Garter Ear Flap Hat from Purl Soho
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Lions Brand acrylic in Marbled Grey
Needles: #8 circular Addi Lace
Size: I made the small size, but on #8 needles
Ravelry Page