Cosmic Dreamer

General Notes

Construction

One of the most interesting aspects of this sweater, besides the bold band of colorwork, is the construction. Starting with a provisional cast on, the sweater is knit from the colorwork down to the body. You'll then go back to the provisional cast on, where you'll pick up the stitches and work up, with short row shaping at the shoulders and back neck, which give the illusion of seams. You'll then finish up the neck with ribbing, optionally going down a needle size. Coming back to the body, you'll split for the sleeves, placing these stitches on holders, and complete the body. At the hem, you'll split again, working the front flat first, and then working the back flat. Finally, you'll transfer the each sleeve's stitches back to the active needle, completing the first sleeve and then the second with no stops on sleeve island! Last, all that's left to do is to weave in the ends and, most importantly, block.

*A note about the short row shaping*: While you're knitting, you'll notice that the short rows create "bumps". DO NOT PANIC. As stated above, blocking is possibly the most important step in creating this sweater, and once complete, these bumps will nicely block out. Be sure to check the notes below about fiber content and storage.

Suggested Fiber & Storage

Because of the shaping, it’s important that this garment be made from a fiber that can be well blocked. Wool blocks brilliantly. Synthetic fibers like acrylic may not work well.

Over time, storage may increase the pointiness of the shoulders, especially if the garment is folded with creases at the shoulder seam. You may choose to steam block the shoulders before wearing. Alternatively, if you have the option of storing on a dress form, this will alleviate the issue.

Colorwork Yoke

Setting Your Charts to Match Your Yarn

The easiest way to set your colors is when you create your project. Simply click on each dot and set it to the color you want it to be. You may need to increase the intensity (in the case of white) to be able to adjust the colors.

If you want to adjust the colors once the project is started, you must click the edit pencil in the upper right hand corner, set your colors, and then click SAVE.

Tips for Stranded Colorwork

Knitrino recommends knitting stranded colorwork with two hands. The strand of yarn that is carried lower than the other on the wrong side can appear more dominant on the right side of the fabric, so carry the float of the background color in the upper position on the wrong side.

The floats should lie flat without being taut when the stitches are well stretched out across the needle. Adjust the tension of the carried yarn at the end of each round, if necessary.

If a stitch is pulled too tight and appears too small on the right side, it can be fixed by making a duplicate stitch over top in the correct color.

How to do a small swatch in the round on circular needles

How to create a provisional cast on

This video shows how to use a crochet hook to create a provisional cast on directly on your needles.

With waste yarn, make a slip not and put it on your crochet hook.
Hold the hook in front of the left needle, and wrap working yarn behind the needle and over the front of the hook.
Pull the yarn through the loop - one stitch has been cast on. Repeat this until you have the correct number of cast on stitches on your left needle.

How to join in the round

Because the provisional cast on is flat, you'll knit your first row into the provisional cast on, and then join in the round.

Shoulders and Neck

How to transfer stitches from the provisional cast on to the active needle

In this video, we show how transfer the stitches from the waste yarn to the smaller needles.

Looking at the center back, poke the needle through the first main color stitch in the provisional cast on from the back of the fabric to the front. You'll transfer stitches in the same order you would knit them. After each stitch is transferred to the right needle, gently pull the waste yarn to unravel the single crochet.

Note: One of the stitches at the beginning of round will only be a half stitch and may get dropped; if there are only 183 stitches after the transfer, use the tail of the yarn at the beginning of round to pick up a 184th stitch.

How to wrap a stitch for short rows when knitting

In this video, we show how to wrap a stitch when you're on a knit row.

Looking at the front of the work and with yarn in the back of the work, slip one stitch purlwise, move the yarn to front, return slipped stitch to the left needle, move the yarn to the back, and turn your work.

How to wrap a stitch for short rows when purling

In this video, we show how to wrap a stitch when you're on a purl row.

Looking at the back of the work and with yarn in the front of the work, slip one stitch purlwise, move the yarn to the back, return the slipped stitch to the left needle, move the yarn to the front, and turn your work.