Wednesday 20 May 2015

Custom Raglan Adventures Part 1

I've knitted quite a few raglan sweaters over the years and thought I'd be up for the challenge of designing a sweater from scratch. First thing I did was to knit a swatch and block it. I'm using some Cascade 220 Heathers in the Mallard colourway.

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Using this recipe for designing a raglan sweater, combined with my gauge swatch and Mr Soaring Sheep's measurements I cast on.

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And this is where it got tricky! Mr Soaring Sheep doesn't like sweaters with round necks, he prefers a V neck so it doesn't pull on his top underneath. He is also working away so opportunities to get him to try it on will be limited too. I decided I wanted to do some sort of cable design down the front. Well where on earth are you supposed to start a cable on a top down V neck?? To be honest I'm still figuring this bit out! I'm thinking I will start with just columns of knit and purl stitches at the appropriate points until I can join the sweater in the round and then start the cable properly. I'm hoping that will work out. I was planning on having some simple cables either side of the main one down the front but they got scrapped when I realised I should have started them several rows before. Hey ho, it's a lesson for next time!

It's not really been relaxing knitting at this stage. It will be once I've joined it in the round and started the cable and hopefully it will start looking ok. I did consider just copying the measurements and stitch counts from an existing pattern but decided that would be cheating a little. This could all turn out to be a complete disaster but it's a learning experience :-)

Has anyone else designed a raglan sweater and has some tips for me? I'd be very grateful lol. Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along

11 comments:

  1. Knitting a sweater, limited opportunities to try, cables and a V-neck.... It would give me nightmares :) Wish you good luck but I am sure you will make something beautiful. Great color too!

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    1. I think it's going to give me nightmares too lol! Thank you :)

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  2. Fingers crossed it all works out for you. I am afraid I am not much help with knitting.

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  3. You are brave! I've designed my own hats and scarves, but a sweater seems daunting. Wishing you lots of luck fro across the pond!

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  4. You are courageous to take on such a design project! I like (love) to create my own patterns, but an adult sweater is something I've not ventured into yet. Best wishes to you! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

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  5. I've never knit a sweater, let alone designed one, so you do not want any advice from me! I do admire your courage in designing a sweater.

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  6. My goodness, I am in awe of you designing this yourself!!! You are an accomplished knitter though so I am sure that you will figure it all out and that your husband will love the results! xx

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  7. How clever you are to be able to knit a jumper from scratch! I love the colour too! Sarah x

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  8. I haven't really knitted any and would be more of a vanilla jumper knitter. Kudos to you on trying.

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  9. I love the colour of your yarn - gorgeous! I have knit a raglan for my son, but never designed one. I'm sure yours will work out brilliantly.

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  10. Very interesting blog. A lot of blogs I see these days don't really provide anything that attract others, but I'm most definitely interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know.

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Thanks for visiting, I love comments :-)

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