Brier Island is a small island in Nova Scotia at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Every year for 13 years our little family made the long journey by car and three ferries to reach this lovely, remote, unspoiled spot. It’s hard to explain why we love it so much - there’s not much there but sea and shore, whales and seals, lighthouses and fog. Summers are always cool (which was the initial attraction for us when we were trying to escape hot, humid Virginia in July and August!). While I was working on this sweater I was thinking that it would be perfect for evening walks down to the water to collect sea glass, watching the sun set at Western Light, or sitting at Northern Light looking for whales.
Knit from the top down using a variation of Barbara Walker’s simultaneous set-in sleeve method of seamless construction, this casual pullover features a front pocket, reverse stockinette panels on the sleeves and body, a double-layered reverse stockinette collar, and a split garter stitch hem.
Skills required: backwards-loop cast-on, short rows (for shaping shoulder slopes only), picking up stitches, increasing, decreasing, tacking down live stitches for collar
Sample shown is being worn with about half an inch of positive ease at the bust.
Sizes available (actual garment measurement at bust, in cm): 76, (84.5, 91.5, 98.5), {106.5, 115, 122, 130}
Gauge: blocked stockinette: 20 stitches and 28 rows to 10 cm; blocked garter: 18.5 stitches to 10 cm
Note: Though conversions to the metric system have been made on this page for your convenience, the pattern itself uses American measurements.
Contains:
- Knitting pattern for cozy funnel-neck sweater with kangaroo pocket and split hem
- Schematics and in-progress photos included
- Suitable for intermediate knitters
Materials you need at home:
- Approximately 895, (990, 1070, 1155), {1250, 1345, 1430, 1525} m of worsted weight yarn. Sample was knit in Miss Babs Heartland Worsted (100% merino)
- 4.0 mm/US 6 circular needles, or size needed to obtain gauge - two sets. A 60 cm cable length works well. You will also need DPNs, small circulars, or a long circular for the magic loop method in the same size for the sleeves
- Needles one size smaller than gauge needles for collar
- Stitch markers
- Waste yarn and tapestry needle for holding saddle and sleeve stitches and weaving in ends
- Tape measure
Laura Aylor
If ‘knitting designer’ had been one of the job choices for those aptitude tests they give you in high school, I wouldn’t have spent so many years trying to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. My best subject in high school was math; my best classes in college were logic, drawing, and a commercial art class. After careers in computer programming/analysis and child-rearing, knit design snuck up on me, but I think it’s the perfect use of my odd skill set! I love every step of the process, from figuring out how to actually make what I’ve envisioned to putting the finishing touches on a pattern, not to mention all the knitting that comes in between!
I also love reading and hiking and spending time on Brier Island in Nova Scotia every summer.