Tuesday 1 April 2014

Knit It - 'Your Victory' Jumper

 Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory Wendy Bayford

Well, it must have been a miracle with all the things I had going on in January, but I did actually finish my Victory Jumper before the deadline, OK it was right up to the wire at 9pm on 31st, but none the less it was finished and I am rather proud of it, and the fact I persevered despite a pair of sleeves that would not behave themselves makes it even more miraculous!

~ Your Victory Jumper ~
Home Notes 1945 Via the V&A Knitting Archive
Size: 32-34″ bust
Ingredients: UK Size 10 & 12 needles
Yarn: 3 ply yarn I swapped for some Stylecraft 4 ply in Midnight, Red & White
Knit stitches: Knit, Purl, S1 K1 PSSO, K2Tog, YO (wool forward) & pick up stitches

Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory

The pattern is for a 33-34" bust so I added and extra 18 stitches to the cast on to make it up to about a 38-40" bust, there is quite a bit of negative ease in this pattern (stretch across the row) so I could have probably added a little less, but it's nice to have a bit of extra room  to breathe!

 Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory Wendy Bayford

I cast this on on Christmas day and was pleasantly surprised at how quick the wavy pattern knits up, it is really very simple! It is worked over 9 stitches K2tog, K2, YO, K1, YO, K2, Slip 1 K1 Passo.  As well as being very easy to remember once you get into it, its also very easy to correct if you make a mistake, generally in my case it was missing a YO, but with a bit of rejigging it was simple to correct, ripping back was not so easy as those yarn overs are a pest to get back on the needle.

Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory

I flew through knitting the body. To both the front and back I added an extra 2 inches to the length which obviously meant it took a little longer on the needles but it was no hardship. The sleeves I started with great optimism, I usually knit both sleeves at the same time, it probably isn't but it feels quicker that way, with this pattern however there was too much tangling of various yarns going on, I am a bit of a tangle queen when it comes to colour work, so I gave that up after the ribbing.

Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory

As I worked through the pattern I became more and more baffled as to how long these sleeves were supposed to be. The instructions stated:
 "Change to No. 10 needles and ptn., inc. 1 st. at both ends of  every 6th row until there are   88 sts. Cont, in ptn. until sleeve measures 5.5 ins. from the beg."
Which would mean 8 rows of increase rows, but if I did that with my tension I would have 7" of the sleeve before the shaping, Ugh! So I ripped it back and worked my increases a little more often than once every 6 rows, then commenced the shaping. This with the way the pattern is seemed to be more tricky than it should have been I am sure on some rows I ended up with more stitches than I should have. Ugh!!!!

Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory

In the end I decided to wing it and try to line the stripes up, on the shaping with the stripes on the armholes on the body, this mean that my sleeves have ended up much puffier than the original pattern and they were supremely fiddly to fit, but at least they are in and all the stripes line up!

Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory

Though it took me three weeks worth of evenings and weekends to fight with them now they are done I am actually really happy with them, but it will be a while before I tackle anything with sleeves with stripes again!

Your Victory Jumper Knitting Free Pattern Knit for victory

So that's it my Knit for Victory finally out there in the world, only two months late!

If you liked this then do check out Retro Reporter's version she used the Clara sweater Pattern which is a redesign by Rohn Strong, it's totally gorgeous! Plus there are lots of amazing projects to inspire everyone on the Flick Group.

Right now on to Sew For Victory!!
Wendy x

34 comments:

  1. It looks fab! You'd never know you had problems with the sleeves :)

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  2. What a beautiful knit! I love how the stripes continue into the sleeves, you've done a wonderful job. This jumper has been on my "to knit" list for an age :-) x

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    1. Thank you Lucy!! It has been on my list for ages too, I actually never though I would ever knit it, but I am so glad I did as its become a firm favourite! xx

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  3. That looks great!

    Do you know roughly how much of each colour you used? I'm always looking out for patterns to use up oddments.

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    1. Thank you Mim! I was using up odd balls I had in my stash so I'm not too sure but I would say it was a little over 200g for the blue, about 150g for the red and about 50/75g for the white, or thereabouts! xx

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  4. It's gorgeous! I love it x

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  5. Love it! The stripes are fab, and well done with dealing with the sleeves.

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  6. How awesome, love the colors. It could be patriotic for a number of nations. {Including my beloved america.} :-)

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    1. Thank Sean!! I think red white and blue is my favourite colour combination, though you could probably guess that by my blog colour scheme! I also love the fact that red white and blue reflects more than just one nations flag! x

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  7. What a beautiful knit! You look wonderful in it.
    Rowena x

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  8. The jumper is beautiful Wendy! I'm glad you persevered with the sleeves, though I can understand it will be a while before you'll tackle something similar. You've done a great job!

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    1. Thank you Nisse!! Yes its not something I will be rushing into thats for sure, though I do love stripes!! xx

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  9. This is such a nice pattern! I love the colors you choose! Well done :)

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  10. Thanks so much for linking to my Clara sweater Wendy! Your sweater looks lovely - and the sleeves are divine! Mine never did get puffy...

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  11. Ahh such a pretty jumper Wendy! I love the sleeves <3
    The colours suit you so well, and a fab skirt too :)

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  12. Pretty! I love these colours, very patriotic! ;)

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  13. Oh, you're making me wish I had the patience for knitting, what a fab jumper! Well done for sticking it out, it's resulted in a gorgeous piece of clothing.

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  14. This turned out so lovely! Can I ask how you added the 16 stitiches? did you only add them to the ribbing and then work them into the pattern or did you make any other number adjustments throughout? I am trying to figure out how to modify this pattern to fit my 42 chest but it seems so complicated!

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  15. Thank you Nicole! I added the 16 stitches to the ribbing sections and just followed the pattern from there, the feather and fan pattern is worked over 9 stitches so as long as you add a multiple of this you should have no problems once you get to the body. The pattern is very stretchy so I would advise doing a swatch first to see if you really need to size it up as much as you think! Any other questions just ask!

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  16. Wendy Thank you thank you! Can I ask why you chose 16?Just from your gauge? Should I choose a multiple of 9 to add on to simplify things such as 18 or 27?

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  17. Ooops! Yes your right it should be 18, my maths clearly needs some work! :-P

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  18. Did you add the 2inches on the ribbing or pattern also did you increase stitches on the purl row...Tia x

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