Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Keep on Truckin' Baby Cardigan...



A seamless cardigan knit from the bottom-up with a cute truck picture on the back, sized from newborn to 2 years old.
The only seaming you’ll have to do is the underarm stitches-that’s it!
If you’ve never done intarsia or followed a chart before, this is a great project to try it out.
You can also find this pattern as a downloadable PDF on ravelry.

Skills used in this pattern:

Supplies:

  • Yarn used: Cascade 220--2 skeins in cream (main color-8021) and 1 skein each of the following colors: navy (2404), light blue (7816), bright blue (8891), green (2409), yellow (946b), brown (8686)
    *note: this is a great project to use misc. worsted weight stash yarn
  • Size 7 24” circular needle & DPNs (or size needed to obtain gauge)
  • Size 6 24” circular needle & DPNs(or 1 size smaller than size needed to obtain gauge)
  • 3 spare DPNs (ideally close to size 7)
  • Stitch markers
  • Bobbins for intarsia (not necessary but helpful)
  • Scrap yarn
  • Tapestry needle
  • Crochet hook (to weave in ends)
  • 2 buttons, 3/4”-7/8” in size
Gauge:

4.5 stitches and 7 rows = 1” on size 7 needles

Sizes:

0-3 mo (3-6 mo, 6-12 mo, 12-18 mo, 18-24 mo)

Finished Measurements:

Chest: 20” (21”, 23”, 24.5”, 26.5”)
Length: 9” (10.5”,11.5”,12”,13.5”)

Abbreviations:
  • k = knit
  • p =purl
  • CO = cast on
  • st(s) = stitch(es)
  • RS = right side of work
  • WS = wrong side of work
  • sm = slip marker
  • K2tog = k 2 sts together
  • pm = place marker
  • YO = yarn over
  • ssk = slip 2 sts knitwise from left needle to right needle. Take your left needle and insert into the front of both of these 2 sts at the same time and knit them together
  • Psso = slip st as if to purl (with yarn in back). K the next st. Insert left needle into front of the slipped st, and lift it to pass it over the knitted st, and then drop it off the left needle
  • Psso-r = K1. Then insert left needle into front of this knitted st and slip it back onto the left needle. Insert the right needle into the stitch to the left of the returned st as if to purl and pass it over the returned st and drop it off the right needle. Slip the original st that is on the left needle back to the right needle
Color Abbreviations:

Color A = main color, cream
Color B = navy
Color C = light blue
Color D = bright blue
Color E = yellow
Color F = green
Color G = brown

Chart:




Important notes:

When following the chart, you should use two balls of Color A (your main color) for each side of the sweater so you do not have to have the same ball of yarn ‘traveling’ from one side of the truck to the other. Once you are done working the truck image you can go back to using one ball of Color A. I also recommend this for the couple of rows you are working the tires (color G) of the truck. Use one bobbin for the 2 left side tires and a second bobbin for the 2 right side tires. I highly recommend reading reference books or online tutorials on intarsia first and how to prevent holes before you start on this project. I also recommend that you use a wool-based fiber for this project as cotton is not as forgiving when it comes to intarsia (at least in my experience!)


PATTERN:

You will first knit up the 2 sleeves of the sweater first

Sleeves:
  • Using color B and size 6 DPN’s, CO 32 (36,40,44,48) sts for sleeve cuff, distributing the sts among 3 DPNs
  • Pm and join to work in the round
  • *K2,P2; repeat from * to end of round
  • Repeat the above ribbing for 1” or desired length (this is the cuff of the sleeve)
  • Switch to color A and size 7 DPNs
  • Work in stockinette (knitting every round) until measures 6” (7”, 7.5”, 8”, 8.5”) from cast on edge
  • Next row: K across to last 3 sts
  • Cut approx. 20” worth of scrap yarn and thread through tapestry needle
  • Using this tapestry needle, slip the last 3 sts onto scrap yarn
  • Now you will also slip the first 3 sts that are at the beginning of the round onto the scrap yarn, so you should have a total of 6 sts on the scrap yarn
  • Total sts on needles = 26 (30,34,38,42)
  • Slip the remaining sts on any size DPN’s (close to size 7) so it frees up the size 7 DPNs for the second sleeve. It doesn’t matter what size because the sts just need to be “held” for now.
  • Cut yarn
  • Tie scrap yarn ends together in a bow—this will ensure no sts fall off scrap yarn
  • Repeat all of the above steps for second sleeve (except for the second sleeve you can leave the “held” stitches on the size 7 DPNs)

Body:

  • Using color C (or whatever color you choose for the bottom ribbing) and size 6 24” circular needle, CO 88 (92, 100, 108, 116) sts
  • Although on circulars, because this is a cardigan you’ll be working back and forth, not in the round
  • *K2,P2; repeat from * to the end
  • Repeat above ribbing for 1.5”, ending on a WS row (note: to acheive same striping pattern as in picture,follow this: cast on row + row 1 = color C, rows 2-3 = color D, rows 4-7 = color B, rows 8-9 = color D, rows 10-11 = color C)
  • Change to color A and size 7 24” circular needle
  • Next row (RS): K 21 (22,24,26,28) sts, pm, K 46 (48, 52, 56, 60) sts, pm, k to end (these two markers represent the side ‘seam’s)
  • Next row (WS): Purl across all sts, slipping markers from left needle to right as you reach them
  • Work in stockinette until measures 3.5” (4.5”, 5”, 5.5”, 6”) from cast on edge, ending on a WS row
  • First picture row: K to marker, K 9 (10, 12, 14, 16) sts, begin picture @ bottom right of graph, then K to end of row

  • Continue in stockinette and working picture as set in graph, until piece measures 6” (7”, 7.5”, 8”, 8.5”) from cast on edge ending on a WS row (note: depending on the size you’re doing, the picture may not be done at this point)

  • Thread tapestry needle w/ scrap yarn (approx. 20” long)
  • Next row (RS): K to 3 sts before first marker
  • Sleeve Set-Up: Using tapestry needle, slip these 3 sts as if to purl onto scrap yarn, remove marker, slip next 3 sts as if to purl onto scrap yarn
  • Pick up one of the sleeves (doesn’t matter which one) & holding it in front of the sweater, match the underarm sts (on scrap yarn) to underarm sts of the body. Your right hand is holding the main yarn and body of sweater and your left hand is holding the needle that the sleeve sts are on
  • PM on right needle, insert right needle into first st on the sleeve needle (this first st is the first st to the left of the underarm sts on scrap yarn), K the rest of the sleeve sts onto sweater body needle, pm.
  • K across back sts, continuing truck picture (if not complete yet), to 3 sts before second marker
  • Repeat “Sleeve Set-Up” steps as instructed above, then K to the end of the row
  • You now have both sleeves connected to the body and a total of 4 stitch markers (2 at each side of each sleeve).
  • Total sts on needle:
     Each front = 18 (19,21,23,25)
     Each sleeve = 26 (30,34,38,42)
     Back = 40 (42,46,50,54)
  • Next row (WS): P across
  • Work in stockinette for 2 more rows (K one more row, then P one more row)

Raglan Decreases:

  • Row 1 (RS): *K to within 2 sts of marker, psso, sm, psso-r, repeat from * 3 times, K to end
  • Row 2 (WS): P across
  • Repeat above 2 rows: 1 (2, 3, 4, 6) more times
  • Total sts:
     each front = 16 (16,17,18,18)
     each sleeve = 22(24,26,28,28)
     back = 36 (36,38,40,40)

Neck shaping:

  • Row 1 (RS): K1, K2tog, *K to within 2 sts of marker, psso, sm, psso-r, repeat from * 3 times, K to last 3 sts, ssk, K1
  • Row 2 (WS): Purl across
  • Repeat above 2 rows 6 more times for all sizes

    [Note for 0-3 mo size: JUST for this size, on the last increase round you will not have enough sts on each front to do a K1 for the first and last stitch. On the last increase round, omit the K1 for the first and last st (so your last increase row will be: K2tog, *K to within 2 sts of marker, psso, sm, psso-r, repeat from * 3 times, K to last 3 sts, ssk.]
  • Total sts:
     each front = 2 (2,3,4,4) sts
     each sleeve = 8 (10,12,14,14) sts
     back = 22 (22,24,26,26) sts
  • Bind off

Neck Ribbing:

  • Using color B (or whatever color you want to use for the neck ribbing) and size 6 24” circular and starting at right neck edge, pick up and K 7 sts along curved neck front (see picture below), then pick up and K all sts along right front, right sleeve, back, left sleeve, left front, then the 7 sts along the curved left neck front
  • *K2, P2; repeat from * to end of row
  • Repeat ribbing, knitting the K sts and purling the P sts, until measures .75” or desired length.
  • Bind off in pattern

Right-Side Button Band:

  • Using color B (or whatever color you want to use for the button band) and size 6 24” circular, and starting at bottom of right-side, pick up and K 3 sts every 4 rows. Total number should be divisible by 4—make note of this number
  • *K2,P2; repeat from * to end
  • Work above ribbing for 2 more rows (3 rows worked total)
  • Before beginning 4th row, mark w/ safety pins where you want to put top 2 buttonholes
  • Top hole should be 3 sts in from the end
  • Second hole should be about 2.5” down from first hole
  • 4th Row: *work to safety pin, remove it, YO, K2tog, repeat from * twice
  • Work another 3 rows in established ribbing pattern
  • Bind off in pattern

Left-Side Button Band:

  • Using color B and size 6 24” circular and starting at top left-side, pick up and K the same number of sts as you did for the right side
  • *K2, P2; repeat from * to end
  • Work above ribbing for 7 rows
  • Bind off in pattern

Finishing:

  • Weave in all ends using crochet hook
  • Take each set of 6 sts that are on scrap yarn at the underarm and put them on a size 6 DPN. Use the grafting technique to seam up these underarm sts. To avoid holes, you may also want to pick up a stitch to the left and right of each side. To see a tutorial for using the grafting technique, check one out here
  • Block your sweater
When dry, attach buttons using needle & misc. yarn

Posted by Elizabeth at Tuesday, April 21, 2009 3 comments
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