The Monkey Donkey Sweater
(also published in Prjonaperlur - Iceland Knits)
Monkey sweater
"I wanted to knit a top-down Lopi sweater, and I wanted it to be different from the traditional Lopi sweaters. My son is really interested in all kinds of animals, but sweaters with duck, cat and dog patterns have already been designed. I therefore chose monkeys for this sweater, as they also fit perfectly to my"different" theme." This sweater is knit top-down. Start with the neck, and then divide the stitches between the sleeves and front and back pieces. When the yoke is completed, the sleeve stitches are placed on a stitch holder or scrap yarn while you finish the body. The advantages with knitting a top-down sweater is that you can try the sweater on any time while knitting it, so you can adjust the sleeves accurately to the length of the arms. And you can also easily add length to the sleeves later, as the child grows, by undoing the cast-off at the cuff of the sleeves and adding a few rows. Size: 1.5-2 (4) years. Chest circumference: 64 (68) cm/ 25 (27) inches, length from the neck down: 40 (43) cm/ 15.5 (17) inches. Sleeve length: 22 (24) cm/ 8 % (9 % ) inches. Yarn: Lopi lite or another yarn of a similar weight in dark brown (250 g), light brown (50 g), light green (50 g), white (50 g). Lopi lite is a worsted/light worsted yarn, and has approx. 100m (109 yd)/50g). Needles: 3.5 and 4.5 mm (Us 4 and 7) circular needles, 40 and 60 cm/ 15 and 24 inches long, as well as double pointed needles. Other: 4 stitch markers, 6 buttons, and a sewing machine. Gauge: 18 stitches and 24 rows in stockinette stitch on 4.5 mm needles make 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 inches. Abbreviations: KFB: Knit in front and back of the same stitch. This sweater is knit top-down. Cast on 58 (62) stitches for the neck on 40 cm circular needles. Two stitches are purled down the whole sweater's front; they mark where the sweater will be steeked and cut to be made into a cardigan and are therefore not counted in the total number of stitches from now on. Join to knit in the round, and work 1 x 1 rib (knit 1, purl 1) for 8 cm/ 3 inches. Now change to 4.5 mm (Us 7) needles, knit stockinette stitch, and divide the sweater into back, front and sleeves, like this: Row 1: Purl the 2 stitches in the middle of the front piece. Knit 9 (10) stitches across the right front, increase by knitting both in front and back of the next stitch (KFB), place marker, KFB again, knit 6 stitches across the sleeve, KFB, place marker, KFB, knit 18 (20) stitches across the back, KFB, place marker, KFB, knit 6 stitches across the other sleeve, KFB, place marker, KFB, knit 9 (10) stitches across the left front piece. Row 2: knit (but don't forget to purl the two stitches in the middle front). Row 3: Purl the two stitches in the middle of the front piece, and then: [knit to the last stitch before the marker, KFB, move/slip the marker to right needle, KFB], repeat around. Repeat row 2 and 3 until the sleeve stitches are a total of 46 (48), and the back 58 (62) stitches and each front piece 29 (31), a total of 208 (220) stitches. Divide for sleeves and body: Purl the 2 middle stitches, knit to next marker, place the 46 (48) sleeve stitches on a scrap yarn. Knit the 58 (62) back stitches, place the 46 (48) sleeve stitches on a scrap yarn, knit the remaining 29 (31) stitches. Now work only on the body 116 (124) stitches, the sleeves are knit later. Knit 4 (6) rows, increase 4 (3) stitches evenly spaced in the first row = 120 (128) stitches. Now knit the treebranch pattern from the chart. Knit 4 (6) rows, then knit the monkey pattern from the chart. Since the sweater is knit top-down you start to knit the pattern in the upper left corner of the chart. Knit until the body measures 18 (21) cm/ 7 (8.5) inches from sleeve opening. Then switch to 3.5 mm (Us 4) needles and knit 1 x 1 ribbing (knit 1, purl 1) for 4 cm. Bind off. Sleeve: Place the sleeve stitches on 4.5 mm (Us 7) needles. Cast on 1 stitch under the arm = 48 (50) stitches. Knit 4 (6) rows. Decrease 0 (2) stitches under the arm. Now knit the treebranch pattern. After that, decrease 2 stitches under the arm, and again in every 6th row for a total of 7 (6) times = a total of 34 (36) stitches. Knit until the sleeve measures 18 (20) cm/ 7 (8) inches from the underarm. Change to 3.5 mm (US 4) needles and knit 1 x 1 ribbing for 4 cm/ 1.5 inches. Bind off. Knit the other sleeve. Cut the sweater open, like this: Using a sewing machine, sew two seams with small stitches in each of the purled stitches up the front of the sweater, four seams in all. Carefully cut to open the sweater between the two purled stitches. Buttonband: Pick up stitches for the buttonbands; pick up a stitch for every row along the steeks, stitches are then decreased in first row. Row 1: [Knit 1, purl 1, knit 2 together, purl 1, knit 1, purl 2 together], repeat until end of row. Row 2-4: knit 1 x 1 ribbing. Row 5: Bind off. Buttonholes are made on one of the buttonbands in row 3 by knitting 2 together, yarn over. The top and bottom buttonholes are made 1 cm from the upper/lower edge, and the other 4 evenly spread there inbetween. Finishing: weave in all ends. Fold the neckline down and fasten. Sew the buttons on.
Matching monkey hat
Yarn: Lopi lite or another yarn of a similar weight, same colors as in the sweater: Dark brown (100 g), light brown (50 g), light green (50 g). Lopi lite is a worsted/light worsted yarn, and has approx. 100m (109yd)/50g). Needles: 3.5 and 4.5 mm (Us 4 and 7) circular needles, 40 cm long as well as 4 mm (Us 7) double pointed needles. Gauge: 18 stitches and 24 rows in stockinette stitch on 4.5 mm needles make 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 inches. Cast on 80 stitches with dark brown yarn on 3.5 mm (Us 4) circular needles. Join to knit in the round and work 1 x 1 ribbing (knit 1, purl 1) for 10 cm/ 4 inches. Change to 4.5 mm (Us 7) needles and knit stockinette stich, 8 rows. Now knit the treebranch pattern from the chart. Knit until the hat measures 11-13 cm/ 4 % - 5 inches from the rib, then start the decreases. Change to double pointed needles when the stitches become too few to fit on the circular needles. Decreases: Row 1: [Knit 8 stitches, knit 2 together], repeat until end of row. Row 2: Knit. Row 3: [Knit 7 stitches, knit 2 together], repeat until end of row. Row 4: knit. Repeat thes two rows with decreasing number of stitches between the decreases until only 8 stitches are left. Break yarn and pull through the remaining stitches. Weave in all ends. Fold the rib and fasten loosely with a needle and thread. Start here on the sweater Start here on the hat
