Lion Brand Notebook ®
In the 15 years I have taught knitting, probably the #1 fear (and reason students come for help) is what this week is all about: finishing. In fact, it is the most unloved part of a project for many knitters and a reason there are many UFOs (unfinished objects) in closets. I actually love to get to this part (although I didn’t years ago) because it is the part that makes the garment look so great when the time is taken to do it right.
After I finished the back, fronts, sleeves and hood last week, all I needed to do was the ribbing that goes around the fronts and hood, the pockets and button loops. I am working the second size of the Saturday Morning Hoodie, and the pattern calls for me to pick up 200 stitches for the front band that starts at the lower right front, goes up all the way around the hood and back down the left side. So, how do I evenly pick up 200 stitches? I’m going to do this the same way I picked up for the hood last week. I placed a marker at the middle of the hood and at each lower edge of the fronts. Now, I need 100 stitches on each side, so I folded each front and marked that spot with a detachable marker. Each of these quarters were folded and marked and once more to create 8 sections on each front and back. (As always, you can click on the photos to enlarge them.)
So, the way I figured it, I will need to pick up alternately 13 stitches and 12 stitches all the way around. Working from marker to marker makes picking up stitches a lot less daunting! Starting at the bottom edge of the right front (with the right side facing), I picked up my stitches and ended up with the 200 required.
The pattern calls for a 29″ circular needle to work all of these stitches, and there are a lot of stitches on the needles. One thing I do to make sure I work these stitches back and forth (rather than connecting them in the round) is to place a marker on my needle that will remind me to turn my work around when I get to end of the row and go back.
It would be so easy for me to make this mistake and especially as I wanted to do this ribbing while watching the Academy Awards. After many “thank you” speeches at the Oscars, I finished all 3″ of the ribbing! I also made sure to bind-off in ribbing, for a nice, flat, edge and not to bind off tightly. (Binding off in ribbing is the same as normal binding-off, but knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches while working your bind-off.)
What makes this “hoodie” so different is the amount of ribbing that actually becomes a part of the sweater. Half of the fronts of the pockets are ribbing, and since I needed to pick up 26 stitches for each pocket ribbing, I just divided each edge into 2 parts and picked up 13 stitches.
The 3″ of ribbing for the pockets and the front bands really adds so much to this hoodie!
After the pocket bands were finished, I neatly sewed the top and bottoms of the band to the fronts.
Many times, I use yarn ends for finishing and I found some of the ends left on the pockets in perfect places to sew them down. After the fronts of the pockets looked good, I turned the hoodie to the inside and lightly sewed the pocket backs the front, making sure that my sewing would not show through to the other side. (I do this many times by only going into half the yarn, and just be careful while working it.)
All that is left now is the button loops! The instructions in the pattern have the buttons on the right front which is for a man’s garment, but nobody has been admiring this hoodie more than yours truly. Having tried it on, I think I will be wearing this often – so I am going to have the buttons on the left front and the button loops on the right front. I marked the placement for my buttons and button bands with markers (again!).
The button loops are made as a crochet chain that is folded in half and sewn on top of a rib (it almost looks like a rib itself). I found that the 43 chains called for in the pattern for some reason made too long a chain, so I made each chain 8″ long leaving ends to sew them in place at the beginning and the end of the chain. The loop is supposed to extend 1″ past the edge. So, I just used each end and sewed it with a running stitch on top of the marked ribs.
I really love these button loops! I found some “toggle” buttons perfect for this hoodie and then showed it to my knitting students. And (drum roll…) here it is:
I will definitely be wearing this tonight as single-digit temperatures are coming again. It has been wonderful hosting this Knit-Along and seeing all of your hoodies “grow.” Thank you all for being a part of our winter KAL! Be sure to share your photos with us in our Ravelry group, our Flickr group, or on the LionBrand.com Customer Gallery!
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Koutnik Susan
Yay! it’s finished! I posted a picture in the gallery under Saturday Morning Hoodie for hubby. Now to start mine.
Pamijean57
Good job Susan … now how do I find the Saturday Morning Hoodie gallery to find your pic?
Koutnik Susan
search for hoodies. Mine is titled ‘Saturday Morning Hoodie for hubby’ (its brown)
Koutnik Susan
Sorry you need more information. On the homepage look for ‘community’. In the drop down menu you will find ‘customer gallery’. That is where you can do the search for the picture.
Koutnik Susan
search for hoodies. Mine is titled ‘Saturday Morning Hoodie for hubby’ (its brown)
Brenda
What would you do?
I’m knitting the children’s hoodie for my son (similar to this KAL pattern) I started late as I had some UFO’s to get done. Anyhow, as I was working on it this morning my sick son decided he needed to cuddle, so here I am knitting around him on my lap when he coughs, looks at me oddly and promptly vomits over himself, me, and my knitting – his hoodie 🙁 Any ideas on how to salvage the piece or, for hygiene sake, should I throw out what’s done & just start again?
Coszak
Oh my. It depends how much you have done. I would be tempted to throw it out if the yarn is hand wash only and I don’t have too much invested in it. But, you could run yarn or string through the stitches on the needle and tie it securely and then wash according to instructions – after hand rinsing off whatever you can. Hope your little one is well soon.
Coszak
Oh my. It depends how much you have done. I would be tempted to throw it out if the yarn is hand wash only and I don’t have too much invested in it. But, you could run yarn or string through the stitches on the needle and tie it securely and then wash according to instructions – after hand rinsing off whatever you can. Hope your little one is well soon.
Brenda
Thanks, not sure how I didn’t think of that 🙂
Edna Dippre
Poor baby!!! I hope he is feeling much better very soon! I don’t know how long ago this happened but the sooner you wash it out, the better. I like the advice you got from Coszak below… If it’s hand wash yarn, put it in the sink in cool water & lightly aggitate it up & down to get the water thru the stitches too. If machine washable, put it in a pillowcase & tie it closed & then wash it on a short cycle. When it’s clean & dry, put it back on the needles & keep going.
Believe it or not, I’ve had a dog get sick on my work years ago & that’s what I did. But it was an acrylic yarn. Fast is the key I think… Good luck! Hope your son get better soon!
Christine
Thanks Heather for posting pic of inside pocket, that is exactly what I had envisioned in my head, yours came out beautiful – c u next knitalong.
Edna Dippre
Thank you Heather for all your help & photos!!!
I’m typing with one hand again. Don’t know what’s wrong with my left wrist & fingers again but it’s the 3rd time since I started this sweater… I’ve been working on sewing it together & half is done but I’m in too much pain to even do that today. I want to get that part done so I can knit the hood!!! I had a very late start waiting for yarn to arrive & then 3 times with my wrist has really slowed me down.
I think I may have to join the next CAL instead of KAL… Crochet is much easier on my hands & arms. But I WILL finish this sweater for my husband!!! So close! I was going to make one for myself too but I’m looking into converting this pattern to crochet to do it. Wish me luck with it!
My husband took me shopping for more yarn & accessories yesterday for my birthday so you can imagine, I bought plenty! That’s a great birthday gift!!!
Edna Dippre
I forgot to tell you that your Hoodie look wonderful Heather!!!
Edna Dippre
Can I use 36 inch long circular needle instead of 29 inch for the all around ribbing? I think it might make it easier on my hands…
Also, what size buttons should I get?
KAL_Host_Heather
Hi, Edna:
Thank you for your kind words about the Hoodie and the KAL! You certainly can use a longer circular needle if you have it, since you work back and forth. The buttons should be at least an 1″ or so in diameter, but toggle buttons work very well since they are slender to go in the loop, but hold the front closed very well. You can always get the buttons after you finish – just take your hoodie to where you buy buttons and this will make your choice much easier. Glad you liked our KAL!
dcmom
I have a question regarding the front sections. The instructions say decrease each row x times, every other row x times, AT THE SAME TIME, etc… does this mean every other row gets two decreases for the first 3 times? Thanks for the help!
KAL_Host_Heather
Good question! The raglan armhole shaping on the fronts are the same as the armhole shaping for the backs. The instructions that say “AT THE SAME TIME” refers to the shaping you will do for the neckline. Many times while workking a sweater front, the shaping for the armhole might not be completed before you do the shaping on the front for the neckline. The upper case letters are there to warn you that this will happen. So, do your armhole shaping at the armhole edge every row for the stated number times, then every other row for the stated number times, knowing that you will have to start your shaping for the neck before the raglan shaping is completed. Hope this helps you!
Christine
thank you Lion Brand for hosting this knitalong and keeping it posted to refer back to you as I am a little behind in finishing. I learned a couple of new techniques and enjoyed reading others’ progress. Thanks to Heather for posting such great pics. My local AC Moore had the Fisherman wool on sale last week so my next project is going to be an aran cardigan. Love LB line of yarn and the affordability for my budget in light of the economic situation. Thanks again!
Christine
thank you Lion Brand for hosting this knitalong and keeping it posted to refer back to you as I am a little behind in finishing. I learned a couple of new techniques and enjoyed reading others’ progress. Thanks to Heather for posting such great pics. My local AC Moore had the Fisherman wool on sale last week so my next project is going to be an aran cardigan. Love LB line of yarn and the affordability for my budget in light of the economic situation. Thanks again!
Kathy
I finished my hoodie and LOVE it! My only problem is with the buttons. Since I knit it using Homespun, I’m not sure how to anchor the buttons securely without them pulling through the rather loose weave of the sweater.
Thanks so much for the help along the way and inspiring me to stretch my knitting skills. I’ve discovered your youtube posts, and have challenged myself to try some of your other projects. I just bought the yarn to try the fallen leaves scarf!
Anonymous
Hi Kathy, consider adding another small button to the back of your fabric to stabilize the buttons. See another block post from the Lion Brand Notebook that shows an example. If you still have trouble, you may also want to consider adding a ribbon backing to stabilize the fabric. Just do a web search on your preferred search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) for tutorials on adding a ribbon backing to your knit fabric.
Tallman Erna
If your facing for the bottons is doulble pull through a strip of velveco and attach at the top and botton. If not put it on the back {inside } amd neekle whip it on.
Works great
tallman3968@comcast.net
Tallman Erna
Kathy
Sorry I ment grograin not velcro
Tallman3968@comcast.net
Janna K
I’m really slow in finishing this knit-along hoodie. I’ve been trying to prepare my house for sale while working on it. I’m now at the point of creating the hood and am confused on the directions for binding off and shaping the hood. I managed to pick up the 56 stitches for the largest size and am currently doing the st st for 11 inches. Is there a graphic diagram available that shows which stiches to bind off and which stitches to knit?
Anonymous
Hi Janna, the directions for the hood mean:
At the beginning of the next row, bind off 3 sts. Work across.
At the beginning of the next row, bind off 3 sts. Work across.
At the beginning of the next row, bind off 2 sts. Work across.
At the beginning of the next row, bind off 2 sts. Work across.
At the beginning of the next row, bind off 9 sts. Work across.
At the beginning of the next row, bind off 9 sts. Work across.
Once you’ve done all of this, you should have 17 (17, 20, 22, 22, 24) st left.
You can see a photo of Heather’s hood, unsewn, in the previous knit-along post, which will show you how it should look.
Janna K
Thank you ever so much for responding. I had seen the pic, but still couldn’t visualize how the directions as written would produce it. Thank you for explaining the short hand.