This ultra-simple pullover illustrates how easy it is to vary the look of the Classic Crew. By choosing a handdyed bouclé yarn and knitting it at a loose gauge, I created an airy, drapey sweater that’s both casual and elegant. This sweater follows the instructions for the up-and-down basic sweater, but with a boat-neck variation (that requires no neckline shaping). Textured yarns, such as this bouclé, look great knitted on larger needles, producing a fabric that is light of hand. The standard gauge for this yarn is 4 stitches per inch on size 9 (5.5 mm) needles, which would be great for a dense jacket or skirt. To get the drapey fabric I wanted in this oversized sweater, I used size 10½ (6.5 mm) needles at a gauge of just 3 stitches per inch. The resulting fabric is airy without being sheer.
I handpainted four 6-ounce skeins of kid mohair bouclé from Ashland Bay in four different coordinating colorways, each successive colorway having an increasing amount of peacock blue. I balanced the “composition” by knitting large areas of different sizes in different colorways. For a painterly effect, I smoothed the transition between colorways by knitting 2 rows of each color for several inches. Because the colorways had so many similar colors, these transitional stripes are not obvious. I used the skeins with the least amount of peacock blue at the hem and cuffs (the smallest area) and worked to the neck and shoulder line with successively bluer skeins so that most of the brilliant color frames the face.
The Fitter List for Bouclé Boat Neck
Measure your body and allow for the appropriate amount of ease (see page 14) or measure a sweater that fits the way you like and enter the numbers below. Refer to your gauge swatch for your stitch and row gauges, then translate each measurement into numbers of stitches and/or rows as you go along.
Yarn name: Ashland Bay Trader’s Kid Mohair Bouclé
Fiber content: 86% kid mohair, 14% nylon
Weight classification: Worsted (#4 Medium)
WPI: 11
Number of yards/pounds used: 1,290 yards; 15½ ounces
Stitches per inch (in stockinette stitch: 3 Rows per inch: 5½
Needle size: US 10½ (6.5 mm; straight)
Cast-on method: Backward-loop
Bind-off method: Chain
Selvedge treatment: Chain stitch
Sleeve increase/decrease method: Paired decreases
Seam technique: Mattress stitch
To minimize roll, work a row or two of single crochet (Glossary, page 134) with a size I/9 (5.5 mm) crochet hook around the hem.
Bodice
Circumference: 54 inches
Width: 27 inches; 81 stitches
Cast-On Stitches: 81 stitches
Length With Edging: 25 inches; 138 rows
Length Without Edging: NA
Length of Lower Edging: NA
Armhole Depth: 9 inches; 50 rows
Back Neck Width Without Edging: 12 inches; 37 stitches
Back Neck Width With Edging: NA
Front Neck Depth Without Edging: NA
Front Neck Depth With Edging: NA
Lower Front Neck Width: NA inches
Begin Front Neck At: NA
Shoulder Width: 7½ inches; 22 stitches
Sleeves
Sleeve Length Without Edging: 14½ inches; 80 rows
Sleeve Length With Edging: NA
Cuff Circumference: 10½ inches; 32 stitches
Half Cuff Circumference: 5¼ inches; 16 stitches
Cuff Length: NA
Upper Arm Circumference: 18 inches; 54 stitches
Half Upper Arm Circumference: 9 inches; 27 stitches
Sleeve Taper Rate: 2 stitches decreased every 7 rows 11 times
Sweater Map for Bouclé Boat Neck
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 17).
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 17), allowing ease for an oversized fit.
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 18).
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 18), using a backward-loop cast-on (Glossary, page 133) and a chain bind-off (Glossary, page 131).
Width and Depth
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 19), but substitute a boat-neck shaping (page 38).
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 22), using a backward-loop cast-on and a chain bind-off, and eliminating the neckline shaping to form a boat neck (page 38).
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 22).
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 24).
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 26), picking up stitches around the armhole and working from shoulder to cuff, ending with a chain bind-off.
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 27), using a mattress stitch.
Eliminate this step.
Work as for the Up-and-Down Classic Crew (page 27).
