Welcome to the 2025 Daingean KAL
Whether you’ve chosen the Daingean Sweater or the Daingean Cardigan, this week we begin where every top-down garment takes shape: at the neck, with a colourwork yoke that brings your project to life.
This is a rhythmic, satisfying start. You’ll see your colours take shape row by row as you build structure into your stitches.
What You’ll Knit This Week
In Clue 1, you’ll knit the full yoke. This includes neck shaping, short rows across the back, and increases that are worked first on their own, then within the colourwork pattern.
The sweater and cardigan follow the same general process with one key difference:
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The sweater begins at the neck with short rows and yoke increases.
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The cardigan includes the same steps, but you’ll also cast on an extra set of stitches at the front. These will later be where you will steek i.e. a bridge of stitches that will later be reinforced and cut to create the cardigan opening.
You won’t need to cut anything this week. This step simply sets up the structure for what’s to come.
Choosing Your Version
There are two main styles to choose from: a sweater or a cardigan. Each is available with long or short sleeves.
Here’s how to decide:
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Choose the sweater if you prefer a classic pullover with a relaxed fit, a great first colourwork pattern.
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Choose the cardigan if you want something that layers easily or if you enjoy learning a new technique. This version includes steeking and we’ll guide you through it.
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Sleeve length is flexible. You’ll decide on long or short as we move into Clue 3.
- Both versions include three different body shaping options; straight, hourglass or a-lone.
The colourwork yoke instructions remain the same across all versions but I'm sure by now that you've decided AND swatched your yarn choice! If you haven't now would be the perfect time before moving on to Clue 1.
Tips for a Successful Yoke
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Use a cast-on that feels comfortable. You can use your favourite cast-on for the neck, the neck edging will be picked up from here, so this cast-on won’t be seen. You want to make sure it’s not too tight.
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Short rows shape the back of the neck and are paired with M1R increases. If you prefer, you can substitute with RLI. Both work well.
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When you are measuring the depth of the yoke, make sure you measure from the front. The back of the neck will have added depth due to the short rows, so it will not give you the correct measurement.
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If your sweater isn’t sitting correctly and the neck is sitting very high over your body, check your colourwork gauge. If this gauge is tighter than your stockinette gauge, it can push up your upper body as it isn’t lying in the correct position. If blocking doesn’t open it up, you will need to redo in a larger needle size, taking care to keep your floats loose. This is the number one problem that causes fit issues with colourwork yoke sweaters.
Customising Fit
One of the best things about knitting a sweater is you can truly make it your own. So, in our knit-alongs we like to talk through some modifications and help to highlight what's possible.
For clue 1, here are some helpful tips:
Changing Neck Size
When the garment is complete, we will go back to pick up stitches around the neck and add Neck Ribbing. This will make the neck smaller. If you don’t want the neck smaller, you can pick up neck stitches after you are finished and just work a simple I-Cord Bind-Off to finish.
If you want a larger neck, then you can cast on more stitches to begin, but then modify the increases in the yoke so that you still get the same bust size. If you increase the size of your neck, it would be important to have more repeats of your colourwork yoke so that it will fit your upper body correctly.
The reason we work the neck edging after the cardigan is finished is to give more stability at the neck as well as giving us more finishing and sizing options at the end.
Bust Size
If you want to make small changes to your bust size, there are 2 good places to do this:
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The final increase round (Increase rnd 2 or 3) is a place where you can add or remove increases as needed, as there are no more patterns worked afterwards. Just ensure they are evenly spaced.
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At the start of clue 2 we will remove the sleeves and cast on stitches across the underarm. This is again an easy place to make small modifications by adding or removing extra underarm stitches. Do be aware that this will also have an impact on the sleeves, as you will be picking up underarm stitches for the sleeves.
Yoke Depth
If you try your sweater on before you finish the yoke, you can decide if you like the yoke depth. It should fit comfortably and reach just below your underarm. It is a good idea to steam block at this stage to get a better idea of the length.
Gauge Difference
If you are getting a different gauge for your swatch, but you like your fabric, you can use your swatch gauge to calculate the garment size you will get.
The stockinette stitch gauge will be what determines the bust size, as it is all stockinette stitch across the bust.
In the pattern, you should have 24 sts for every 4” / 10 cm
Example:
If you are getting a gauge of 23 stitches instead of 24 sts for 4” / 10 cm, what will your finished bust size be?
If you knit the Finished Size of 34.75” / 88.5 cm with this gauge, you will have a bust size of:
34.75x 24/23 = 36.25” or 92 cm.
You can use this calculation to see what the bust size will be for your gauge.
Tutorials for This Clue
In case you need some quick tutorial links, here is a list of some helpful refreshers for clue 1:
If this is your first time steeking, don’t worry. This week is all about setting up. We’ll walk you through the full process later in Clue 3.
Live on YouTube
If you have any questions about clue 1 of our Daingean Cardian or Sweater or you'd like to join us for a clue 1 chat you'll find us live on YouTube!
Date: May 8th, 4.30pm Irish time.
Where: Over on YouTube live right here.
Replay Available: Can’t make it live? Watch the replay at your convenience.
Don't forget to drop into Knithub to join the chat!
And if you'd like to join us for the Spring Knit-along just click here.
Wishing you all the best for clue 1 of the Daingean KAL!
