My Killing Jumper: How To

Not that I like to be seen to pander too much to my blogger stats and comments, but it does seem that there are a few people out there who would like to know how I made my Killing Jumper. I'm not going to describe what follows as a pattern, it is more working notes on what I did. I hope they make sense and provide some help, if not drop me a line.

Ravelry References:

- Alison Moreton's Sarah Lund Charted Motif, the pdf can be found here.

- Salassam's Sarah Lund jumper from the Killing, I used Salassam's notes as the base for my jumper.

Equipment

- 8mm circular needle, nice and long mine was 100cm

- Stitch markers

- Stitch holders or spare yarn

- Garnstrudio Drops Eskimo, which is a super bulky weight. I used 14 or possibly 15 balls, three of the contrast colour and the rest the main colour. I got mine from The Constant Knitter

Gauge

11st x 16 rows to a 10cm square of stocking stitch

Finished Size

I am somewhere between a UK10 and 12 on top, the finished measurements of my jumper are

Length of back from neck:      66cm

Length of body to underarm:   42cm

Length of arm from underarm: 47cm

Working notes:

This is basically a simple top down raglan, with the charted motif work in. This is exactly what I did, with my 'fudges' included. I'm not saying its the best way to do it, its just how I did it. I used Alison Moreton's Charted Motif and generally followed Salassam's pattern notes (see links above).

Neck

Cast on 54 stitches, join in round

Knit 8 rows of Knit 1, Purl 1 rib

K21, place marker, K6, place marker, K21, place marker, K6, place marker

Short row shaping on back

This helps the neck to sit forward at the front, it is worked on the first 21 stitches only, these form the back of the jumper

K17, wrap & turn

P13, wrap & turn

K15, wrap & turn

P17, wrap & turn

Raglan Increases

Knit 1 round 

Knit 1 round increasing at either side of all four markers

Work these 2 rounds a further 10 times (11 increase rounds in total)

Knit 1 round

Knit 1 round increasing on each side of the front and back only - This will give you 45 stitches on the front and back and 28 for each sleeve.

AT THE SAME TIME - after 12 rounds (6 increases) start working the charted motif

Placing of charted motif

The pdf of the charted motif I used has instructions for working in the raglan increase, I didn't really understand these, and they didn't fit with the number of stitches I had. I placed the motif so the star was at the centre of each of the front, back and two sleeves, and 'fudged' the increases.

All the raglan increases should have been work when you get to the end of the charted motif, you should now have 45 stitches on the front and back and 28 for each sleeve.

Body

I worked the body straight without any shaping, the wool is so bulky it seemed pointless to put in any.

K45, place 28 stitches on a holder, cast on 5 stitches, K45, place 28 stitches, cast on 5 stitches (50 stitches on needle for body)

Knit 15 rounds

Knit 12 rounds of charted motif

With 50 stitches for each side and with the star centered on each side, I found I had room for three and a bit repeats of the pattern, with an odd stitch at one end. I modified it slightly at the sides so  there was just a circle, as I felt this looked better, you should get this across the front and back

  

The pattern join at each side between the front and back should look like this - note the single odd stitch between the circles

 

Knit 16 rounds

Knit 12 rounds of charted motif

Knit 8 rounds

Work 8 rounds of Knit 1, Purl 1 rib

Cast off.

Sleeves

Knit 28 stitches from holder, cast on 4 stitches (32 in total)

The observant reader will notice I cast on 1 less stitch for the arm than the body. This is another 'fudge' and it has to do with the placing of the charted motif. I'm sure there is a better way of doing it, but this is how I did mine and it works fine.

Knit 15 rounds decreasing two stitches evenly.

This is so you have 30 stitches and can fit in exactly two repeats of the pattern, I decreased mine on the under arm so you can't see them

Knit 12 rounds of charted motif

Knit 16 rounds

Knit 12 rounds of charted motif

Knit 6 rounds

Knit 12 rounds of Knit 1, Purl 1 rib

Cast off

Repeat for 2nd sleeve,  sew up under arm, weave in ends, put on your jumper and find some gritty Scandinavian crime to solve ...