The wait is over!
Today we cast on the Torc Cardigan knit-along and there is a lot to cover, from the provisional cast on at the center of the saddle to modifications and tips for clue one, so let's dive right in.
This cardigan begins at the centre of the back of the neck with a provisional cast-on for half of the right saddle stitches. These are worked to the edge of the neck, then stitches are cast on for the second half of the saddle and the rest of the right shoulder is finished. You are working decreases at each side to slope the shoulder as well.
The left shoulder is then worked in the same way. When the saddle is complete, stitches are picked up from the bottom edge, first for the back and then for each side of the front. You will work in pattern down to the armhole, working armhole shaping and also neck shaping at the front.
Knitting Tips for Clue 1
Provisional Cast-On
I’ve called out the Invisible provisional cast-on for the centre of the saddle. This has the advantage of being worked directly onto waste yarn (or a barber cord!) so it’s very fast to work the second side when you come back to it. However, if you prefer another provisional cast-on, feel free to substitute.
Neckline Increases
The Neckline has v-neck shaping, which means we are increasing at the neck edge every RS row. It will be a little confusing at the start because there is a Gansey pattern worked at the neck edge before the increase. This gives us a lovely wide Gansey pattern edging along the side of the neck, but it means that at the very start, the neck increases are starting almost where you would expect the armhole increases to be!
Adjusting Gauge
If you are getting a different gauge and you like the fabric that it is knitting up as you may decide to adjust the size you are knitting based on your gauge. I've done a tutorial on how to do this here. Remember if you adjust the size you knit for your gauge you will still need to work the 'lengths' for the size you want rather than the larger size!
Modifications for Clue 1
Shoulder Width Modification
If you have wider (or narrower) shoulders, you can adjust the width of your shoulder saddle to match your body shape. Just remember to adjust equally on each side so that the reverse stockinette stitch ‘welt’ remains at the centre of the back of the neck.
If you are making it wider, you can either space the decreases out further or just work extra rows with no decreases at the end.
If you are making the shoulders narrower, you can remove some rows between decreases to ensure you can fit the decreases in.
Bust Adjustments for Shoulder Changes
If you want to return to a larger bust size after working a narrower shoulder, you will need to work more armhole increases on both the back and front to ensure you get back to the same number of bust stitches. This will mean that you start them sooner so that you don’t change the depth of your armhole.
It would be the opposite if you have made the shoulders wider. You will need to do less bust increases. This will mean that you start those increases further down so that you still have the same armhole depth.
Yoke Depth Adjustments
If you want to increase or decrease the depth of your yoke, this will work best before you work your armhole increases.
If you want to make your yoke depth shorter, you may find that you need to work your neck and armhole increases at the same time, so make sure you keep track if this.
If you want to increase your yoke depth, you can keep working your Gansey pattern for longer without causing any problems.
Be very careful to make the same adjustment on both the back and on each side of the front.
Live on YouTube
If you have any questions or you'd like to join us for a Torc clue 1 chat, pop over to YouTube May 8th at 3.30pm (GMT) or tap the link to catch the replay too!
Wishing you all the best for clue 1 of the KAL.
Don't forget to drop into Knithub to join the chat!
And if you'd like to join us for the 2024 Torc Knit-along just click here.
