A simple raglan knit, it turned into an instant staple sweater that I can see myself wearing it quite constantly. In keeping with my promise to myself to use up my stash before buying new yarn, I used another chunky yarn I had in my stash for several years. In fact I don’t think it’s made anymore. It was a very quick knit, even with frogging the start of it a few times.
Materials
Chateau by Stitch Studio by Nicole in color fawn
Size US 10 and 11 circular needles
The Idea
I wanted a collar on this sweater and I wanted a very simple raglan construction. This is my first time knitting a raglan so I didn’t want to try anything crazy, but I know so many knitters love this construction.
Construction
I started at the collar, and since I wanted it to fold down I knit it back and forth on size 10 needles in reverse stockinette until I liked the length, about 6 inches. Switching to size 11 needles, I joined in the round and began knitting in stockinette. I had 40 stitches on my needles, the center front being the beginning of the row, and placed stitch markers as follows: knit 6, place marker 1, knit 8, place marker 2, knit 12, place marker 3, knit 8, place marker 4, knit 6, end row.
For the raglan increases I knit until one stitch before the marker, made one stitch with the proper lean, knit 1, slip the marker, knit one, made one, and repeat at each stitch marker. I increased every other row until there were 42 stitches in the sleeve sections, ending on a knit row. I knit to 1 stitch after marker 1, *slip the next 40 stitches onto some scrap yarn, cast on two stitches across the gap, then knit 1, remove marker*, knit to 1 stitch after marker 3, repeat the directions between **, knit to the end of the row.
I knit the body down until I liked the length then began decreasing. Knit 4, k2tog, and repeat to the end of the row, leaving 84 stitches. Knit 1 row. Knit 4, k2tog, repeat to the end of the row leaving 70 stitches. Switching to size 10 needles, I continued in a knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for another 2 inches. Since this yarn has next to no stretch, I used the most stretchy bind off I could find. The video I used for reference is below.
For the sleeves, I moved the slipped stitches from the scrap yarn back onto size 11 needles and picked up four stitches under the arm for a total of 44 stitches. Knit 3 rows. Knit 9, k2tog, repeat to the end of the row (40 st). Knit 3 rows. Knit 8, k2tog, repeat to the end of the row (36 st). Knit 3 rows. Knit 7, k2tog, repeat to the end of the row (32 st). Knit to desired length at the wrist. Knit 2, k2tog, repeat to the end of the row (24 st). Knit 1 row. Knit 2, k2tog, repeat to the end of the row (18 st). Switching to size 10 needles, I continued in a knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 2 inches, then used the same stretchy bind off as I did for the hem. I repeated these instructions for the second sleeve.
To finish the sweater, I sewed the back 10 stitches of the collar down and added some pockets. For the pockets, I picked up 10 stitches just above the bottom ribbing and knit up 14 rows before casting off and sewing up the sides of the flap. I made two and they ended up being a bit small for the general things I would put in them and if I bend over at all the items fall out so I may take them off and redo them. I made much better pockets for the (spoiler alert) matching pants.
Thoughts
The raglan construction is a fairly simple one now that’s I’ve knit it once and I have a feeling I’ll be doing it that way from now on when I want to pick up a project. I did make a few mistakes as I didn’t follow any patterns, so I frogged it once before I got it right. I cast on too many stitches and made the sleeve sections way too small so by the time I got to the point of separating the sleeves, the neck was huge and the body was even bigger. While I didn’t follow a pattern I did use the below videos from Well Loved Knits as a reference for the general construction of a raglan sweater. I fell so much in love with Bethany from Well Loved Knits that I’ve watched almost all her videos know and keep up with the regular postings just for fun.
Due to the lack of elasticity in the yarn, the ribbed edges have stretched out and maintained their stretched shape, but I don’t mind it much.
I can see this sweater being a piece that I reach for again and again over the years, and I’m so glad I could use up a chunk of the yarn in my stash for it as well. I still have quite a lot of it though, so I’ll be finding other ways to use the rest of it (like for the matching pants hinted at earlier in the post).
