This one’s for me! I wanted something cozy and quick to knit for myself so I had something to wear around while the weather gets colder day by day. I decided to go with another simple drop shoulder construction and this time include a v-neck design element I had been looking at for a while. This project took me a total of four days to complete.
Materials Used
- 5 balls of Loops & Threads Eco-Cozy in sage green
- 1 ball of Loops & Threads Eco-Cozy in navy blue flecked
- Size 8mm (US 11) ChiaoGoo circular needles in lengths 40″ and 24″
- A plastic tapestry needle
- Stitch markers
- Scissors
- Row counter
- My favorite sweatshirt for measurements
The idea and design overview
I knew I wanted a chunky knit, something on the heavier side that would keep me warm. I wanted a quicker project than the previous sweater (see here for details on the sweater I knit for David). I had to really push to finish the last one as the yarn weight was much smaller on David’s sweater and the knitting went a lot slower.
I also wanted to incorporate a v-neck style that I had seen recently on Instagram that I loved the look of. The collar overlapped slightly in the front where it was sewn to the body.
I do most of my yarn shopping at Michaels. On a recent trip I saw their new store brand (Loops & Threads) yarn, Eco-Cozy. It was a nice chunky yarn and felt quite soft. I love that it’s made out of recycled plastic. I love the color selection too. So I went back and played around with color combinations until I found one that I liked the best and went for it! 🙂 I decided to knit the body and sleeves in sage green while knitting the ribbing on the hem and cuffs as well as the collar in navy blue flecked.
The sweater is knit in the round until the arm holes, where it is separated and knit flat for the front and back pieces. The shoulders are seamed together with the Kitchener stitch. The sleeves are knit in the round then sewn to the body in a drop shoulder construction.
I referenced this website for information on decrease stitches for right versus left handed knitters. I also referenced the below video on YouTube for help with a new increase stitch that I used throughout this design, the M1L and M1R.
Gauge
I cast on 40 stitches for the test swatch and knit up as high as I needed to get both 3cm and 10cm square measurements using the recommended needle size on the yarn specs.
8mm (US 11) needles
- 3cm x 3cm stockinette – 3.5 st and 4.5 rows
- 3cm x 3m K1, P1 rib – 4st and 4.5 rows
- 10cm x 10cm stockinette – 12 st and 15 rows
My gauge was slightly off from the one given in the yarn specs using the recommended needle size. I take multiple measurements so that I can do all of my calculations twice to make sure there are no errors.
Step by Step
I used my best fitting sweatshirt to help me with the measurements for this sweater. I measured across the bottom above the ribbing part x2, across the front at the bottom of the armpits x2, the height of the ribbing in the hem, the height from the top of the ribbing to the armpit, the height of the arm hole, the width of the neck opening, the height of how deep I wanted the v-neck to be, across the wrist above the cuff x2, the height of the cuff, and the height on the bottom of the sleeve from above the cuff to the bottom of the armpit.
To calculate my cast on, I used the measured circumference of 112 cm to find the number of stitches. I then calculated that the hem ribbing would be 10 rows high. I cast on 132 stitches in the navy blue flecked color, placing a stitch marker at the beginning of the row and after 66 stitches, and knit a K2, P2 rib for 10 rows.
I then needed to increase from 112 cm circumference up to 128 cm circumference over a height of 35 cm. So, over 52 rows I needed to increase 20 stitches. Increasing 4 stitches in each increase row, this meant I would increase every 10 rows with two rows left over.
I reset the row counter to 0, joined the sage green yarn to the work, then knit 5 rows stockinette, (increase 1 stitch on either side of each stitch marker on the next row, knit 9 more rows) x4, increase 1 stitch on either side of each stitch marker on the next row, knit 6 more rows.
After this, I separated the front stitches onto the shorter length circular needles to knit it separately. I calculated that I needed the front and back pieces to be 43 rows, and the v-neck section I wanted to be 27 rows. The neck width would be 22 cm wide at the top, making it 26 stitches wide. Over 27 rows, I wanted to decrease every third row, leading to a total of 18 stitches decreased to the center. This left 8 stitches to be bound off in the center.
I knit 16 rows flat, binding off the center 8 stitches on the 16th row. From here, I began to knit the left side of the v-neck. Decreasing every third row meant that not all decreases would be on a knit row, so I used the link above to look up right handed and left handed decreases and which way they leaned. If the decrease fell on a RS row for me, I would knit the lefty left leaning decrease (k2tog). If the decrease fell on a WS row for me, I would flip the work to the RS and do a righty left leaning decrease (skpsso) before flipping back to the WS to purl across the rest of the row. Using this technique, I decreased 1 stitch every third row, beginning with row 1, for a total of 27 rows. Leaving the shoulder stitches live, I cut the yarn with a tail that was 3x the length of the shoulder piece to use for the Kitchener stitch later.
I knit the right side of the v-neck in a similar fashion. I looked up the right leaning decreases for both left and right handed knitters. On a RS row I would do a lefty right leaning decrease (skpsso). On a WS row I would knit to the last two stitches where the decrease would happen, flipped to the RS, and knit a righty right leaning decrease (k2tog). Beginning on the first row, I decreased every third row for 27 rows using these decreases. Leaving the shoulder stitches live, I cut the yarn with a tail that was 3x the length of the shoulder piece to use for the Kitchener stitch later.
For the back piece, I knit 43 rows flat in stockinette stitch, leaving all stitches live at the top. With 26 stitches centered reserved for the collar, the remaining 50 stitches divided by 2 left 25 stitches for each shoulder piece. I used the long tails from the front piece to Kitchener stitch across the 25 stitches on either side of the neck opening for the shoulder seam.
For the collar, I picked up 29 stitches along the each edge of the v-neck, ending up with a total of 84 stitches on my needle (including the stitches held from the back piece). I used the navy blue flecked color to knit a K2, P2 rib for 9 rows and then bound off. I left a long tail to use to sew the straight edges of both sides of the collar to the bound off center of the v-neck in an overlapping fashion.
For the sleeves, I calculated 28 stitches cast on in the navy blue flecked for a circumference of 24 cm. I knit a K2, P2 rib for 10 rows. I needed to increase to a circumference of 56 cm over 42 cm. This meant I would need to increase 38 stitches over 63 rows. Increasing 2 stitches on each increase row meant there would be 19 increase rows. 63 total rows / 19 increase rows = 3 rows with remainder of 6 rows. To calculate the number of rows I would need to increase every third row and every fourth row, I used the below formulas.
- 63 = 3x + 4y
- x + y = 19
Using these formulas I calculated that I would increase every third row for a total of 39 rows, then increase every fourth row for a total of 24 rows.
I reset my row counter to 0, joined the sage green color to the piece, then increased every third row beginning on row 1 until the row counter read 39. Then I increased every fourth row beginning on row 40 until the row counter read 63.
I made a second sleeve exactly the same way, then cut two pieces of yarn about 5x the width of the armholes to use to sew each sleeve to the body.
Tada! A chunky, v-neck, drop shoulder sweater! 🙂
The result
I could not be happier, and I feel like I say that about every single thing I finish knitting but it’s true! As far as I know, there were no math mistakes this time. The M1L and the M1R increases were not as challenging as I had expected them to be and they are less noticeable than the KFB increase I had been using on previous projects. My Kitchener stitch skills are getting better and I almost couldn’t find where I had seamed the shoulders together this time when I looked at the finished product. The tension is difficult to get just right, but I’m getting there.
I think these colors worked really well together and I would love to do another quick sweater project using this yarn. I have my eye on the mustard color to maybe combine with another round of navy blue flecked accents 🙂
Next projects
I’ll be working on much smaller projects now as it nears the gift giving season. I have a long list of socks, scarves, and hats to knit for family members for the holidays. I want to try a two color double knit scarf for my sister, and my brother requested an all black scarf that he can wear with his uniform for work. My mom wants nice warm slipper socks to wear around the house and my dad jumped in on that idea too. I also have an embroidery idea for a gift as well, but that one will remain a secret for now.
David and I went out for dinner last night and the waiter loved David’s “Harry Styles looking” sweater and asked where he could get one! I may have an official first customer on my hands lol. I’m very excited to see if I can make a sweater for him 🙂
