Skyskrapa sweater - video and picture tutorials

Time for sweater knitting!

Skyskrapa is a ease and fun children's sweater that is a seamless knit from top to bottom. Choose five favorite colors in soft and comfortable Alpe, an untreated DK wool yarn.

Maybe this is the first time you try to knit with two colors at the same time? Perfect!

The social part, where you can see other people's color choices, projects and publish their own pictures and thoughts is going on in the facebook group Sticka Skyscrapa (mostly in swedish, but participate in the language that your are comfortable with).

If you do not have a facebook you can ask questions in the comments below, or email me at madelene.linderstam@jarbo.se.

HERE you'll find the free pattern

If you're new to knitting the blog entry below will help you through the project!

Yarn

Skyskrapa is knitted in DK weight wool yarn Alpe from Järbo Garn. Any DK yarn will work fine.

Pick your colors

The sweater consists of five colors: one main color (the one you see in the yoke above) and four contrast colors. Each pattern color recurs in two stripes in succession. The color combinations can vary in infinity! If you choose shades that are closer together, you get almost a gradient, more fluid transitions. Choosing colors that contrast with each other creates a more striped impression. Both ways are fine, and I can guarantee that all colors, no matter how you mix them, will make a fun sweater!

Below you will find examples of five color combinations. Notice how different colors appear depending on what color they "meet" in the stripe, it's cool! 

WHITE: Vanilla White, Rose Melody, Azalea Pink, X-mas red, Poppy Orange 

RED: X-mas red, Azalea Pink, Vanilla White, Royal Lilac, Canary Yellow

GRAY: Gray Stone, Sunshine Yellow, Mauve Magic, Victory Blue, Granny Green

PURPLE: Royal Lilac, White Crisp, Sunshine Yellow, Aqua Blue, Mauve Magic

BLACK: Black, Azalea Pink, Aqua Blue, Rose Melody, Royal Lilac

Accessories

Circular needle size 4 mm and 4.5 mm and DPN:s in the same size.

To know the length of the cable, pick a lenght that is smaller than your sweater's chest circumference.

Alternative:

If you knit with Magic Loop you do not need DPN:s but can use the same needle (80-120 cm cable) for the entire sweater. Below you can see a movie showing how to knit with Magic Loop.

The yoke and cuffs are knitted with the smaller needle. Pattern parts are knitted with larger needle. Why then, you might wonder. Most people knit a little harder when knitting stranded knitting, and to easily guarantee that the sweater retains fine proportions, it is good to go up a little in needle size on the body and sleeves. You also need four markers that has different colors. That way you'll know which one is which. The markers do not need to be lockable because they will only hang on the needle/cable itself, not be locked into the work.

Gauge

It is important that you use the right needle size so that you get the correct dimensions of the sweater.

Knit a swatch so that you are sure you have the right needle size! Your swatch should be knitted in pattern.

Cast on 34 stitches and knit chart with two colors on needle 4.5 mm until you have a square patch.

Then measure up to 10 centimeters horizontally over the test patch and calculate how many stitches will fit on the width.

Repeat the same thing and measure the number of rows vertically.

You should have 19 stitches in width and 22 in height.

Do you have too many stitches? Go down 0.5 mm in needle size. Do you have too many? Choose a slightly larger needle.

Construction

Skyskrapa a raglan sweater that is knit from the neck, down over the yoke. After putting sleeve stitches aside, you'll continue to knit all the way down to the rib at the waist and bind off. Then stitches are picked up for sleeves that are knitted from the armhole down to the sleeves' cuffs. Both sleeves are knitted in the same way. "Raglan" just means that you increase for the sleeves right after the yoke. All in one piece!

Below is a sketch of the sweater. The dimensions are including cuffs. If you want longer body or longer sleeves, you can easily extend the pattern by adding one or more turns per striped section.

A = approx. 10 (11) 12 (13,5) 14 (14,5) 15,5 (17) 18,5 cm
B = approx. Ca 44 (48) 54 (61) 63 (65) 67 (71) 77 cm
C = approx. Ca 14,5 (17) 21 (23) 25 (25) 27 (29) 31,5 cm
D = approx. Ca 13,5 (15,5) 18 (18,5) 21 (21) 25,5 (35) 37 cm
E = approx. Ca  13,5 (15,5) 18 (18,5) 20,5 (23) 25,5 (35) 37 cm

Cast on

Cast on with your regular cast on method. The sweater has a wide neckline that makes it easy to get over your head in all sizes.

Yoke

The yoke is knitted in the round with 8 increases every other round. You always make your increases on each side of each marker. You should always have the same number of stitches on the right and left sleeve and there should also be as many stitches on the back piece as on the front piece. It is easy to check if you missed an increase because the numbers will then differ. The image below shows the location of the four markers. Marker A shows the beginning of the round AND the rear left shoulder. The picture shows a finished yoke in size 0-2 months.

 

Increases

You'll be using increase method M1R and M1L. See videos below.

Stranded knitting

The sleeves and body are knit according to the same principle: two stitches in one color, then two stitches in the next. A very simple multicolor pattern! There are many ways to knit with two colors. Below you can see how I do. I hold a yarn in each hand, but it goes just as well to keep both colors in the left or right hand. Choose the method that feels best for you! Always keep the newest color as dominant, in the video the dominant color is pink. Try to keep the knitting relaxed and stretched so that the yarn that runs on the inside does not tighten.

Change skein

When knitting with untreated, clean wool, there is a very neat way to introduce a new skein without having to sew in any ends. Divide the yarn at each end, wrap the threads together and then add moisture in some way. The simplest thing is to simply put the yarn in your mouth quickly. A little moisture is enough! Then rub the yarn between your hands so that it is felt together. You have a durable and invisible joint!

Knitting the sleeves

The stitches you put on waste yarn after the yoke will turn into sleeves! Since the stitches are not binded off, they sit on a thread or holder, it is very easy to start the sleeve. Take the needle in your right hand and slide the live stitches on the needle (or the stitches if you have DPN:s). Then remove the waste yarn that the stitches rested on and pull it out. Now all your sleeve stitches are on the needles! (below stitches ready for Magic Loop).

The stitches under the sleeve

When you pick up stitches under the sleeve, there is a small risk that a small hole will occur. Below you will see two videos where you'll see know how to pick up stitches and how to avoid the small hole.

Stretchy bind off

Check out the video below. It shows a simple stretchy bind off!

Sew in ends

To get a nice finish when attaching threads after binding off in kntiting in the round, do as shown below.

Wash and block

When you wash the sweater, it becomes softer and smoother as the wool fibers settle. The stitches even out and stranded knitting flattens. The sweater does not need to be washed often. Ventilate in fresh air and it will be as good as new.