As I was trolling through Ravelry this morning, I found a sweater that I want to make. It's Buttony by Katie Marcus. The photo from ohmystars (see below), doesn't do it a bit of justice, I saw a lot of really adorable completed cardigans with interesting button combos that didn't look at all frumpy.

I'm inspired to host my first Knit Along so if you'd like to join me, the pattern is free and can be found here. If you're already on Ravelry the pattern is here, let me know who you are so we can hook up. I also started a thread for the KAL on the PPK.
This page on Ravelry discusses gauge for the sweater and links to about 40 discussions of it, and this thread is also very helpful. Apparently, we should be getting about 2.5 stitches per inch if you cast on 96 stitches.
So according to the thread above, all you have to do to make adustments to this sweater is to add or reduce stitches AFTER you knit the neckband. If you decrease at the beginning, the band will be too tight, and vice versa if you increase. Many people said that since this is a neck down sweater, it's easy to adjust for boobs...you just try it on as you go and increase or decrease accordingly based on how it fits. I couldn't find any details about boob darts or waist shaping, though I did read that someone added waist shaping and liked the result. Also, someone posted the following gauge, which is helpful--they had a good result:
Hi Friender - I know that you left your comment 2 months ago, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to answer anyway. I did my Buttony with 15 sts / 20 rows per 10 cm, using the yarn and needles given in the pattern. But my sweater seems a little dense - if I did it again, I’d probably go for a slighter looser gauge. I hope that helps someone! [She then went back and said that her sweater wasn't at all dense, and she didn't know what she had written that in the first place.]
For those of you not on Ravelry, here are some related blog entries about the sweater that might help you:
http://chocolateachuva.blogspot.com/2008/04/fire.htmlhttp://tomboyknits.blogspot.com/2008/01/fo-buttony-sweater.htmlhttp://lickmysticks.com/?p=144http://spindelicious.vox.com/library/post/buttoney-woes.html?_c=feed-rsshttp://www.ninabomba.com/mt/archives/2007_04.html (scroll down)
Also,
this blog entry shows how easy it will be to modify the pattern...It's a perfect example of why a raglan top down sweater is a good one to start with.
I'm shooting for a May 1st cast on, anyone with me?
Another great link
here.
I also found a
KAL on craftster with lots of good info, crap it's got 39 pages and will hopefully answer a lot of questions!
I cheated and cast on today, I couldn't wait. I've noticed that the pattern is really not precise and since there are some new knitters joining this KAL, I want to post notes as I work. Also, I'm posting the pattern for a really easy to follow top down, baby raglan sweater. I think if you refer to this pattern for direction, it will help with Buttony's lack of instructional detail.
Check out this baby pattern for help with the raglan increases.Waist shaping details here and really great shots of her sweater
here.
Notes:
- Don't forget to make your first buttonhole at the beginning, don't wait until the 10th row to add one.
- The raglan increases on row 9 are done a bit differently than I've seen before, and it took me awhile to figure out. Here's what I'm doing, slip the first stitch, knit to within one stitch of the first marker. Make one, knit one, slip the marker, knit one then make one again. Repeat before each marker. Also, I'm not increasing into the bar the way the pattern calls for, I'm knitting into the back of the stitch instead, I like the way it looks better with no holes. Row 9: Slip 1, (K to within 1 st of marker, M1, K2, M1) to end
- When you get to the point you want to try on the sweater and you move stitches to other needles, make sure you remember to put your stitch markers back in! I just made that mistake, what a mess.
- Start your sleeves with a long tail, there will be a little hole, that you can use the tail to sew up when you finish it off. Otherwise, if you want them to be a little wider at the base, pick up stitches around the hole and knit.
- This page explains the ssk decrease that is used for sleeves.
- WIP shots are here.
- I did some succesful waist shaping based on the craftster thread above. I placed one stitch holder under each armpit. On a knit row, I decreased two stitches at each holder like this: ssk, k1, slide holder, k1, k2tog. I made this increase row 3X spacing them 6 rows apart. This worked great, then I started increasing in the same manner, but only was able to do one round of increases before I had to start the ribbing.
- When I started on the sleeves, I had 51 stitches. I picked up an additional 5 under the arm to prevent a hole. I immediately decreased 8 stitches on the first row to get to 48 stitches. I did this by k2togh, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog knitting until the last stitches on the round, and repeating this pattern in reverse.
xo
kittee