Hello there! Today I’m sharing some pictures and process details for my “Celtic Knot Sweater.” I referred to the set-in-sleeve instructions in Ann Budd’s “Knitter’s Handy Guide to Top-Down Sweaters”. I attempted a 42 inch bust size on my actual 39 inch measurement. I didn’t measure the final garment, but as you can see below, it fits well!
The first task was to design the knot pattern for the chest. I knew I wanted a sort of “celtic knot” design, and I wanted it to be repeating. I needed to get this down before I could start on the sweater, because you need the number of stitches in a repeat to figure out how to adjust the stitch counts in the pattern! I found a great chart on pinterest, but it was clearly an image or scan of an old book. So I recreated it using the Stitchart app on my tablet. One cool thing this program can do is knit a digital sample of your colorwork pattern, which can help identify any issues early.
I won’t demonstrate, because you can see my actual sample below! I quickly learned that I needed a different needle size for the color work portion, so the sample was doubly useful. Always check your gauge after blocking, now matter how frustrating the whole process is!
Everything went surprisingly smoothly with the body, but the sleeve caps were a little rough at first. I tried the first one at least 4 times. The instructions are good, I just made changes to the pattern that required some modifications. Pictured below is my final success!
As you can see a bit below in my blocking picture, I added darts in the front and back to pull in the waist just a little and give the sweater some shape. My hips are a bit larger than my bust, so there were more increases at the bottom than decreases at the top.
And here is the final sweater! The one thing I would change is to knit the button bands a little thicker. They do pull a bit when I button it up.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section!
Until We Meet Again,
What I Made Last Weekend 