TRAIN SWEATER ALLISON SMITH I'm calling this the Train Sweater because it is good train knitting. It consists of two rectangles and a tube knit in simple lace stitches, and a picked-up neckband. I'm providing instructions for sweaters with 34", 38", and 42" busts, as well as a worksheet for calculating your own size. I recommend calculating your own, since people come in so many different shapes. If you have questions, please contact me at al.marie.smith@gmail.com. You will need: ● 35-70 grams or about 300-600 yards laceweight yarn, depending on the size of your sweater. · A size 7 circular needle, or a needle of the size you need to get gauge. · At least one stitch marker (for the end of the row). · Some contrasting waste yarn. · Scissors, a needle to darn in ends (the sharp kind is best), the usual. · Optionally, a tape measure, a pencil, a calculator or some scratch paper, and the body you want the sweater to fit. TABLE 1. Abbreviations used in this pattern k knit k2tog knit two together RS right side psso pass slipped stitch over sl slip ssk slip two stitches as if to knit, then knit those two stitches together yo yarn over \*\* repeat directions between \* and \* Work a gauge swatch in Miniature Leaf lace. Be sure to block it before calculating your gauge, as it should grow considerably when blocked. If you are planning to use my numbers, you should have 14 stitches and 27 rows in a four-inch square. (This has a lot to do with which direction you stretch the fabric; if it comes out wrong you should try re-blocking before re-knitting.) If you are providing your own numbers, you can use any gauge you like, but do take note of it. Miniature Leaf lace (for fat knitting) (on a multiple of 6 stitches, plus 2 edge stitches) Row 1 (RS): k1 \*yo sll k2tog psso yo k3\* k1 Row 2: purl Row 3: k1 \*k3 yo sl1 k2tog psso yo\* k1 Row 4: purl Repeat rows 1-4. If you are calculating your own size, do it now. (See page 4.) Cast on (1/181/199/217) stitches. Join ends, being careful there are no twists, and knit one round. Knit in the pattern \*slip 1 purlwise, k1 $^*$ for one inch. Since you have an odd number of stitches, you don't need to do anything special at the beginning or end of a round in this pattern; after the first round you should always be slipping a stitch you knitted on the last pass, and knitting into a stitch you slipped the last time around. When work measures one inch, place stitch marker for the start of the round and knit one round plain. In the next round \*k1 k2tog\* until you are almost to the end of the round. Count the stitches on the needles, and make as many decreases in the remaining stitches of the round as you needtohave (H/120/132/144) stitches on the needle.1 Work in Miniature Leaf lace until the sweater is long enough to reach comfortably to the underarms, or will stretch to be long enough when blocked. Remember that you will most likely be blocking to make the piece both wider and longer, so if you're stretching to get the length, you should make sure that you are able to simultaneously stretch it to the desired width. Miniature Leaf lace (for circular knitting) (on a multiple of 6 stitches) Row 1: \*yo sll1 k2tog psso yo k3\* Row 2: knit Row 3: \*k3 yo sl1 k2tog psso yo\* Row 4: knit Repeat rows 1-4. Slip the stitches onto a length of waste yarn, and divide as shown on the diagram at the top of page 3, with (J/20/22/24) stitches in each section. Place the end of the round at an underarm to make the jump in the lace pattern less noticeable. Mark, being careful that markers will not slip past stitches. For each sleeve, cast on (0/52/52/59) stitches. Work fat in Miniature Vines lace, knitting first stitch of each row together with one stitch from holder. On right side rows, take the next stitch from the side marked A, and on wrong side rows, take the next stitch from the corresponding side B, following the arrow on each side. Continue until there are no more stitches on holder at this side, ending with a wrong side row. Cast off very loosely on the next (right side) row.
Miniature Vines lace (for fat knitting) (on a multiple of 7 stitches, plus 3) Row 1 (RS): k2 \*yo k1 ssk k2tog k1 yo k1\* k1 Row 2: purl Row 3: k1 \*yo k1 ssk k2tog k1 yo k1\* k2 Row 4: purl For neckband, pick up three stitches for every two along front and back neck edges and the cast on rows of both sleeves. Knit one round, and identify corner stitches (where front or back meets the sleeve). Continue in $^*$ slip 1 purlwise, $\mathrm{k1^{*}}$ for one inch, decreasing twice at each corner in every other row.2 Cast off loosely. Weave in ends and block to desired size. To make the ends less noticeable and more secure, you can split each end into its separate plies and weave in each ply separately.
Numbers to Match Your Measurements
You will need to measure two parts of the body you want the sweater to fit. The first is the bust. Measure across the widest part of the chest, while the person being measured is wearing clothes suitable for the sweater to go over, and the arms are hanging loosely at the sides. If you are the person being measured, it is wise to have someone else take the measurements. Write this measurement in inches $^3$ in the Reference Table next to the A; I will refer to it as A from now on. The second measurement you need is over the shoulder from the level of the underarm on the front to the same level on the back. Go over the shoulder near the middle, or where it would be comfortable for a bra strap to go. This is B, again in inches. Decide how many inches ease you want the sweater to have. Less will make a tighter sweater, more will make a looser one. This number is C. $\mathrm{{C}+\mathrm{{A}=\mathrm{{D}}}}$ . This will be the circumference of your sweater. $\mathrm{E}$ is the number of stitches you had in four inches on your gauge swatch. Divide E by 4 to get F. This is the number of stitches you have in one inch.4 $\mathrm{~F~}\times\mathrm{~D~}=\mathrm{~G~}$ . This is almost the number of stitches you will have on your needles while knitting the body of your sweater. Divide G by 6 and round to the nearest whole (counting) number. Multiply this whole number by 6 to get H, the actual number of stitches you will have for the body of the sweater. (It should be very near G.) Multiply H by 1.5 and round to the nearest odd number to get I, the number of stitches you will cast on for the body of the sweater. (The stitch pattern used for the frst few rows has more stitches per inch than the Miniature Leaf lace pattern.) Divide H by 6 to get J. You will use this number when dividing your body stitches prior to knitting the sleeves. I had the same stitch gauge in the Miniature Vines pattern as in the Miniature Leaf pattern. If your gauge for the Miniature Leaf pattern was very different from mine, you may want to make another swatch for the Miniature Vines pattern. In this case, K is the number of stitches you had in four inches in this pattern. Divide K by 4 to get L. If you did not make a second gauge swatch, $\mathrm{L=F}$ $\mathrm{~L~}\times\mathrm{~B~}=\mathrm{M~}$ . This is almost the number of stitches you will have for each sleeve. Divide M by 7 and round down to the nearest whole number (that is, ignore the decimal part). Multiply this whole number by 7. This is N, the number of pattern stitches you will have on each sleeve. $\mathrm{~N~}+\mathrm{~3~}=\mathrm{~O~}$ . This is the number of stitches you will really have on each sleeve; the extra three are edge stitches. You are now done calculating! Go back and fll in your numbers where there are blanks in the pattern.
TABLE 2. Reference Table
