The moment has arrived!
Today we cast on the Saoirse Sweater and Vest knit-along and there is a lot to cover, so let's take a look at the pattern overview before tackling this clue's modification options.
Clue 1: Yoke
Overview
This sweater is knit from the top down with raglan shoulder shaping. Initially, you will be working flat, with increases along the neck edge. Once this is complete, the rest of the sweater is knit in the round for the sweater version.
In the vest version, you will bind off the sleeves when you reach the width of the shoulder needed for the vest. After that, the front and back of the vest and the yoke will be worked flat until you rejoin for the body.
At each raglan shoulder seam, you have a garter stitch panel; the increases are worked at each side of this panel. There is a ridged stitch pattern used for the body that is easy to work and creates a lovely textured effect. This sweater uses modified raglan shaping, changing from full raglan increases into slower increases as you progress through the yoke.
You will work through sections A-G in the sweater pattern which goes from raglan and neck shaping into different rates of shaping for different sizes. Make sure you follow the directions for the size you are knitting. All sweater stitch counts are given in the stitch count chart so you can check your work as you progress.
Clue 1 Tips and Modifications
As this is a top-down raglan, any extra raglan rows you work in your yoke will impact the number of stitches you have for the body and the sleeve. For this reason, if you want to increase or decrease the depth of the yoke, you will want to decide if you want to include raglan, sleeve or body increases as well.
When you are changing between flat and in the round (both for the neck and for the vest) there are a few stitches at the front left that will get worked in pattern twice. This is needed so that each stitch panel is complete for each row or round, as you don’t want to start a row in the middle of a stitch pattern!
Yoke Depth & Stitch Changes
If you only want to add depth to the yoke with no changes to the stitch count then you will work plain rows without increases. Before you add length thought I'd suggest steam blocking as the Ripple Stitch pulls up a lot before it's blocked.
If you want to change the number of stitches for the body, you can add them to a plain row that previously had no increases. This will increase the stitches but won’t add depth.
It would be the same for the sleeve. If you want to add extra stitches, you can work extra increases on the sleeves at each side on a row that would otherwise have been without any increases.
Vest Shoulder Adjustments
The vest is worked the same as the sweater until you bind off the sleeves. After that, you will be working the front and back flat separately until you rejoin at the body. If you want a larger or smaller shoulder for the vest, you can adjust the position that you bind off the shoulders at.
Live on YouTube
If you have any questions or you'd like to join us for some clue 1 chat, pop over to YouTube on September 26th at 3.30pm (IST) or tap the link to catch the replay too!
Wishing you all the best for clue 1 of the autumn KAL!
Don't forget to drop into Knithub to join the chat!
And if you'd like to join us for the 2024 Saoirse Knit-along, just click here.
