Knitting -- the colorways jumper

So to use up some Comfy fingering, I did a jumper and sweater in reversed colorways. The red is hollyberry, the beige is called parchment. The yarn is a cotton blend.

There are two rows of motifs, one a star and the other from Mary McGregor's edition of Robert Williamson's collection of his 1920s customers' motifs that they used in their original Fair Isle knitting.

Between each row of motifs is what I call a "rick-rack", two rows of white with a color row between them. The colors showed up better with the parchment background and I liked how the parchment made it look sort of antique while being new.

So then I got ambitious to re-do the right hand sweater as a jumper using the classic Jamieson and Smith 2-ply Shetland wool. I bought it from Woolly Thistle although Fairlight Fibers also carries it.

If you never worked with this yarn before, it feels a little rough to the fingers and it is ALWAYS trying to hackle. Just work firmly but not with high tension.

The motifs are 10 stitches wide and 7 rows high apiece. There are three rounds of base color between every band with color, whether it's a band of motifs or rick-rack.

You need 12 skeins 3 (a light brown mix), 8 skeins 9113 (Maroon), 2 skeins 01A (Optic white), one skein each 77 (dyed black), 75 (Sea foam), 80 (Dark brown), 79 (Emerald), 21 (Navy), 95 (Pink), 118 (Moss), 73 (Orange), and 123 (a purple mix). I tried 002 (Stone) for a base color, but it was too light and the white didn’t show up well. I also tried 78, a medium shade of brown, but the maroon didn’t pop.

Use size 3 or 4 needles on 24 inch circular tethers for the body, 16 inch for the neck and the start of the sleeves, and DPs for the end of the sleeves.  

So.

Cast on 308 and work 8 rounds of k2/p2 rib. The 308 stitches allow for the fact that color work is less flexible than one-color work, and let you put 2 or 3 layers under the jumper.

Knit 1 round, then knit another increasing one stitch at each underarm, then knit a third round. You need that extra stitch because while the rib uses a 4-count, you need a 10-count for the body.

Work a rick-rack band. The rick-rack bands alternate like this: 77 then 75: 80 then 79: 21 then 95: 118 then 73: 80 again then 123. Start over with the black rick-rack if you run short before you get to the shoulders.

After the black rick-rack band, work a star band.

After the seafoam rick-rack band, work the Fair Isle motif.

Work the dark brown band, then the star.

Work the emerald band and then the Fair Isle.

Work the navy band and then the star.

Work the pink band and then the Fair Isle.

Work the moss band and then the star.

Work the orange band and then the Fair Isle.

Work a brown band and then the star.

Work a purple mix band and then the Fair Isle.

If you need a longer body, start over with the black rick rack.

When the jumper is long enough under your armpits, put 14 stitches on a holder , turn your work and cable on 15 for steeking. Turn it back, bring the first stitch on the body to your right needle, pass the last stitch over, and put it back on the needle. Remember to alternate your base and pattern color on the steeking, with two stitches of base color in the middle to mark where you will cut the steeking. 

Keep knitting in alternating bands until you get to the shoulders.

Knit together 40 stitches for each shoulder. Remember, when you finish each shoulder, slip one stitch from the left needle to the right, pass the last stitch from the right needle over that, put the stitch back and knit it. Do this at both shoulders. This is one of our gap-closing techniques.

Knit one round to stabilize the neck. At each shoulder, put the needle under the long stitch and add one, knitting it, then do the same thing in the stitch after that (but not in the knit stitch that has the PSSO under it), to prevent large gaps at the neck. 

Knit 8 rounds k2/p2 rib for the neck and bind off in rib.

Now cut your steeking and pick up around it for the sleeve as usual for Fair Isle.

Knit the underarm stitches off of the holder. When you get to the end, slip the last stitch on the left needle onto the right needle and pass the last stitch from the right needle over, then knit it. This is our gap-closing technique again. Knit one round in base color and use this technique again when you get back to the underarm.

Now start knitting in pattern, with the first rick-rack band being the same color as the last one before you knitted off at the shoulders, and the first motif band being the same one as the last one before the shoulders. 

Don't forget your decreases at the underarm. Do these in the first of 3 base color rounds, in the middle round of a rick-rack band, and in the last of the next 3 base color rounds. Stop decreasing when you get to the stitch count that you want for your cuff.

When you get down to the black rick-rack band that matches the bottom of the body, do your 3 rounds in base color. Then if, like me, you need some extra length, work one band in the Fair Isle motif (the body ends with the star motif) and 3 rounds in base color. For the cuff, do 8 rounds of k2/p2 rib and bind off in rib.

Wash with a soap specialized for wool. I have one with tea tree and lavender oils to protect against moth. The wool feels softer after washing.

You can customize this with any Fair Isle motif you want, or use a Fair Isle motif instead of the star. I recommend using motifs no more than 8 rows high. 

You can also customize this by using different colors than what I chose, or doing light rick-rack bands before dark ones, or... well, you know.

And then you can knit matching socks with the banding on just the leg portion. That ought to get you one of each motif band, plus three rick-rack bands, with 3 rounds in base color above and below the banding.

For another cozy layer, make a sweater or wool jacket in Jamieson and Smith Aran Shetland Fawn to wear over the jumper.

These same amounts of yarn would also make a nice scarf with matching hat, gloves, and socks. The body of the jumper is 18 inches long, so work one repeat, then 24 rows of base color, and then another repeat in reverse order of all the bands, for a 39 inch scarf.

You probably only want to work a single motif band across the back of the gloves with a rick-rack band on each side. 

Above the ribbing of a cap, you would work the same as the leg of a sock and then decrease to a round peak.

I would wear these with a jumper in a solid color (no color work), so that the color work really stands out, in Jamieson and Smith Aran (worsted weight) in Shetland Fawn. That ought to be nice and snuggly. 

If you want a different base color, buy one skein of every color you plan to use and see how it looks next to the base color. You might have leftovers, but if you search this blog for "leftover" you will find plenty of ways to work them up. I bought lots of stone and I'll use it to make a Dovrekofta with turquoise.