The Weekender KAL: swatching.

As you may have read in our most recent email newsletter, Anne and I have fallen in love with Andrea Mowry’s “The Weekender.” It’s been a popular pattern since it came out in late 2017, but somehow neither of us was compelled to cast on for it until recently. Maybe it’s because we’ve seen so many knitters make it successfully, maybe it’s because Shelter is the one Brooklyn Tweed yarn Anne hasn’t knit with yet, maybe it’s because my “Ursula Cardigan” is taking forever and I crave a simpler project. No matter the reason, we’re excited to announce an informal knit-along!

Copyright Andrea Mowry.

 

How to participate? Simply cast on for your own “Weekender” and knit at your own pace. There will be no deadline, just the camaraderie of working from the same pattern at the same time. Anne and I are here to answer questions as you select your yarn, needles, and what size you’ll knit, and will post our progress along the way.

So far, we’ve gotten as far as swatching.

Mowry has cleverly designed the body of this sweater to be knit in the round with the wrong side facing, so you can peacefully knit in stockinette, then turn your work inside out for a reverse stockinette fabric. Because the sweater is knit in the round, it’s important to swatch in the round.

Anne is knitting with the recommended yarn, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, a worsted weight, woolen spun wool that is lightweight and spongey, excellent for sweater-making. Mowry calls for 4.5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch in the round, so Anne cast on as many stitches as it took to fill her 16″ circular needles for a real, honest-to-goodness sense of her gauge and fabric. Before blocking, it was looking like she’d get gauge on US 10 needles, but after blocking, US 9 needles turned out to be right on.

I’m following the lead of a few projects I found on Ravelry and knitting “The Weekender” with Kelbourne Woolens Scout, a robust DK weight wool that I’ve been anxious to get on my needles. I knit my swatch in the round on DPNs, casting on for about 8″ of fabric, and was surprised and delighted to get stitch and row gauge on US 7. My “Weekender” will be somewhat more loosely-knit than Anne’s, and I’m excited to see how it turns out.

Copyright Andrea Mowry.

We both plan to knit the 44″ size, which will give us several inches of positive ease, but less than the 10″ Mowry suggests – Anne and I both prefer more close-fitting sweaters and this will already be a few more inches of ease than we normally knit for ourselves.

Have you been thinking about making “The Weekender,” or wanting a simple sweater that’s as effortless to wear as a sweatshirt? Cast on with us this week, or next week, or whenever suits you – knit along with us at your own pace, and come by the shop any time to ask questions and share your progress! Brooklyn Tweed just came out with two new marled colorways in Shelter, just to complicate your color selection process – more on that soon!

Comments

  1. Michele Wrath on said:

    I knit my swatch on Monday night. I am using Debbie Bliss Donegal luxury tweed. I got gauge with a size 9 needle. I am excited to see all the weekenders under construction!

  2. Pingback: The Weekender KAL: casting on. | Hillsborough Yarn Shop

  3. Pingback: The Weekender KAL: round and round, back and forth. | Hillsborough Yarn Shop

    • You’ll finish the front ribbing having just worked a right side row, so your first round of the body, the setup round, will be a wrong side row. Mowry has designed this sweater to be knit inside-out!

  4. I am at the section right after the shoulder ribbing in the front of the sweater and it says to work (29) shoulder sts in established
    rib pattern and then it lists instructions after that to do. What do I do? Does that mean I go back to ribbing for 29 sts?

    • You’ll work in ribbing for 29 stitches, yes, then alternate knit stitches and slip stitches across what will become the neck opening, then work in ribbing for another 29 stitches. You’re setting up those neck opening stitches for a tubular bind-off. This may be one of those times in a pattern where it helps to just do exactly what the designer says, phrase by phrase, and trust that it works out, even if it doesn’t make total sense in the moment. Hang in there, and let us know how it goes!

  5. Pingback: The Weekender KAL: show and tell. | Hillsborough Yarn Shop

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