We’re starting a new weekly series of people posting about the projects that they’re working on with JMF yarn. I immediately thought of Sarah because she always knits such lovely sweaters out of her yarn shares. Next week we’ll feature a different project, but we’ll be following along with Sarah until she’s done her sweater.
Hello friends! I am so excited to be sharing my sweater knitting adventure with you all. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be knitting up a warm, squishy sweater using my 2012 Juniper Moon Farm Spring Yarn Share, dyed in the luscious green OJAI Colourway!
After lots of deliberation (and some helpful input from other Aunties in the JMF Ravelry group), I decided my OJAI share would make a perfect Hooray Cardigan. I chose Hooray for a ton of reasons – because of its interesting construction and fun cables, because I love cardigans, and because I think the shape will be flattering on me, but also because it will really show off both the crisp and bouncy texture AND the lovely hand dyed colour of this particular yarn – Juniper Moon Farm’s 100% Cormo Wool Spring Share yarn!
Because this yarn is GORGEOUS and squishy and the colour is the perfect perfect springy green, it deserves to be knit up into something special! I know I’m using a lot of exclamation marks… I can’t help it. I’m excited!
The next step – SWATCHING! I know, not everyone’s favourite thing. But because the Hooray Cardigan pattern calls for DK weight yarn, and the OJAI share yarn is worsted weight, swatching was key!
I swatched with two different needle sizes – 4.5mm, the size called for in the pattern, and 5mm, for comparison. The sweater is knit flat, so I worked the swatches flat too. I added a border to make measuring easier. After a quick soak and an air dry,
I measured my swatches,
aaaaannnddd (drumroll)…. Both swatches were very close to the pattern gauge!
In terms of stitch gauge, the 4.5mm needle swatch had a few more stitches per inch than the pattern calls for, and the 5mm swatch had a slightly fewer stitches per inch than the pattern calls for. In terms of row gauge, both swatches were a bit off – but the sweater is knit from the top down, so it will be easy to just try it on as I go and adjust the length as needed.
What does this mean for my sweater? Let’s do some math! I used this excellent article about swatching and adjusting gauge from twist collective. My bust measurement is 37″ and the pattern size closest to that is the 38″ size – that’s the pattern size I will knit.
How will my gauge affect the size? First, I figured out how many stitches I would have at the suggested gauge: The stitch gauge in the pattern is 5sts/inch – so, for the 38″ size, 38×5=190 stitches at the bust.
With the 5mm needle, my gauge measured 4.95sts/inch. 190 bust sts/4.95sts per inch= approximately 38.4″. With the 4.5mm needle, my gauge was 5.05 sts/inch and therefore would measure approximately 37.6″ at the bust.
Decision time! I thought about which fabric I like better in terms of density and drape, and whether I would rather have a little bit of positive or almost no ease. The pattern suggests that the sweater looks best with a bit of positive ease, and I like the feel of the fabric knit with the 5mm needle better – so 5mm needle it is! I will have about an inch and a half of positive ease, on my body.
With swatching finished, it’s time to cast on!
What’s that red yarn, you’re wondering? A provisional cast on! More on that next time.
Sarah hangs out with her cat, drinks a lot of tea, sometimes eats cake for breakfast and knits as much as possible in beautiful Victoria, BC.
If you’re interested in contributing to the WIP posts, please email lauria AT fiberfarm DOT com with the subject line WIP contributor.
