(Finished the body this morning for my stripey Polly Cardigan! I LOVE it! Sleeves and buttons this weekend.)

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

Here are a few more sections you will need to make the Polly Pullover into a long-sleeve cardigan.

I’ve been asked so here is the answer, I made the body of my cardigan 15 inches long, measured down from the underarm, and then added the 4 rows of ribbing. I am doing this same measurement on both of the versions of the cardigan I am making. This is a good spot to make things perfect for you, longer or shorter. You decide!

Buttons:

I used five 3/4-inch buttons. I had to go back and tighten up the buttonholes slightly with a sewing thread and needle to make them a touch smaller. Therefore, I would recommend 1-inch buttons so you don’t have to tighten up the buttonholes later. Since I’ve been asked a few times, I bought my green buttons on the Carbon cardigan at The Sow’s Ear in Verona, WI. I have no idea if they still have them available or not. It was over a year ago that I purchased them.

Now, the other thing about the buttons is that I made 5 buttonholes at the top of my cardigan and left the bottom open. You could place buttons going all of the way down the front top to bottom. What I’m saying is that you could do more or less on the button front. It’s up to you. I usually only button a few buttons on my cardigans so I don’t need them going all of the way down.

I did a video tutorial on picking up stitches if you need help on that subject. Click here to see the tutorial.

Button Band:

The button band on the left side of the cardigan:

Starting at the left front edge at the neck, with the same size needle used for the body of the cardigan, (pick up 2 stitches and then skip the next stitch) repeat to the bottom of the front edge. Whatever number of stitches you end up with will work out fine! We all will end up with different numbers due to the fact that you can vary the length of your cardigan.

Row 1: (k1, p1) repeat to the end of the row

Row 2: knit the knit stitches, purl the purl stitches to the end of the row

Rows 3 and 4: repeat rows 1 and 2

Row 5: repeat row 1

Bind off.

Buttonhole Band:

On the right side edge starting at the bottom of the sweater, (pick up 2 stitches and then skip the next stitch) repeat to the top of the front edge.

Row 1: (k1, p1) repeat to the end of the row

Row 2: knit the knit stitches, purl the purl stitches to the end of the row

Row 3 (buttonhole row): Starting at the top of the neck continue to work in the k1, p1 rib as set: work 3 sts in rib, yo, k2tog, then (work 5 sts in rib, yo, k2tog) repeat ( ) until the desired number of buttonholes have been worked, continue in rib to the end of the row.

Rows 4 and 5: repeat rows 1 and 2

Bind off.

Sleeves:

Follow the pattern to place the stitches back on the needles and for picking up stitches at the underarm, including placing the stitch marker at the middle of the underarm stitches to mark the beginning of the round.

To make long sleeves with ribbed cuffs:

Knit every round for 2 inches measured from the underarm.

Next round is the decrease round as follows:

Decrease round: (k1, k2tog, knit to the last 2 stitches of the round, ssk)

Knit every round until the sleeve measures 5 inches from the underarm.

Repeat the Decrease Round.

Knit every round until the sleeve measures 8 inches from the underarm.

Repeat the Decrease Round.

Knit every round until the sleeve measures the desired length from the underarm (I went to 16-inches before starting the cuff).

Next round: (k1, p1) repeat to the end of the round.

Repeat the last round for until the ribbed cuff measures 5 inches (or desired length).

Bind off loosely.

Sew on the buttons opposite the buttonholes.

Weave in all ends. Block as desired (I just gave my sweater a hearty steam and let it dry flat).

Well, there you have it Polly Cardigan Knitalongers! I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Keep me posted.

The Ravelry thread for the Polly Knitalong is right here.

I have a huge giveaway coming up next so don’t miss it!!

Have a great knitting weekend everyone.

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

Well the day is here to start the Polly Pullover or Cardigan Knitalong! You can now officially cast on as soon as you are ready. Some are choosing to make the short sleeve pullover exactly as on the pattern. Some are wanting to change the pullover to a long sleeve cardigan. You could also make a long sleeve pullover. You choose what is good for you!

Please click here to see the pattern and details! You can purchase the pattern in your local yarn shops or right here online in our downloadable pattern shop. Merri Fromm designed the beautiful original Polly Pullover and she did such a wonderful job. The pattern is written so clearly. Thanks to Merri for this great pattern!

Click here for all of the Polly Pullover detail information and the pattern addendum for 2 additional larger sizes!

Now to change the pullover to a cardigan, like I did, here is what you do. You are going to work back and forth in rows instead of knitting in the round. I casted on the smaller size 32-inch circular needles and just stayed on those for the entire raglan section and the cardigan body. I used the same size in double-pointed needles for the sleeves.

You will need to start the row at the front center of your cardigan, and end the row at the other side front center. I followed the pattern exactly for all shaping.

Cardigan Version

Collar:

Cast on the number of stitches as assigned in the pattern. Do not join to work in the round. Work back in forth in rows and in rib as specified.

Next row: purl

On the next row place your stitch markers as follows:

Knit half of the front stitches (look on the pattern for number of front stitches for your size), pm, knit the right sleeve number of stitches, pm, knit the back number of stitches, pm, knit the left sleeve number of stitches, pm, knit the remaining half of the front stitches.

Next row: purl

Begin Raglan Increases:

Next row (increase row): (knit to 1 stitch before the stitch marker, kfb, sm, kfb) repeat across the row (increase 8 sts on every increase row)

Next row: purl

Repeat the last two rows until you have the specified number of stitches on the pattern. End with a purl row.

Divide for Body:

Note: Remove the stitch markers as you work across this row.

Next row: knit the front stitches, place the sleeve stitches on a length of scrap yarn, using the backward loop method cast on 1 st for underarm (place a stitch marker to mark this stitch), knit across the back stitches, place the sleeve stitches on a length of scrap yarn, using the backward loop method cast on 1 stitch for the underarm (place a stitch marker to mark this stitch), knit across the front stitches.

Work even to the specified length in the pattern from the underarm. End with a purl row.

Waist Shaping

You can leave the waist shaping out if you prefer a looser fitting garment at the waist.

I did include the waist shaping on the Carbon cardigan in the photos. However, I moved the waist shaping to the sides of the cardigan (instead of the darts on the front) using the stitch marker placed on the cast on stitch under the arm to mark the location of the waist shaping. I used the exact same waist shaping or darts as in the pattern, only I did the decreases and increases on the sides of the cardigan.

I skipped right to the decrease round at this point.

Decrease row: (knit to 2 stitches before the stitch marker, ssk, sm, k2tog) repeat one more time and then knit to the end of the row.

Next row: purl

Work as specified in the pattern to the increase round.

Increase row: (k to 1 stitch before the stitch marker, kfb, sm, kfb) repeat one more time and then knit to the end of the row.

Next row: purl

Work to the end of the body as specified in the pattern continuing in rows.

Okay, that’s a good amount to get you started.  Next time I will have the instructions for the sleeve modifications and the button bands!

Click here to go to the Ravelry group, Friends of Spud & Chloë, and the thread for the knitalong!

Please direct all questions to the knitalong thread or here on the comments. That way everyone can benefit from your questions and answers. Also, please feel free to jump in and help when someone asks a question. That’s what makes knitalongs so much fun!

Off you go! Keep me posted, I want to hear all about your versions of Polly.

Hi Spud & Chloë Friends,

I have few things to share today and they both concern the Polly Pullover Knitalong. I am making another version with some stripes at the yoke. I am using Outer in Flannel as the main color and Sandbox and Bayou for the stripes. So far I have used only one hank of each of the striping colors.

This time I am making the size medium for a relaxed fit. For the Carbon cardigan I wanted a more fitted style but this new roomier version will be perfect for layering.

The official starting date is Wednesday, September 28th, 2011. On that day I will post the cardigan addendum with the changes for those interested in the long sleeve cardigan version of the Polly Pullover.

There is a new category on the Spud says! sidebar, knitalong. I am putting all of the knitalong related posts in this category so you can easily refer to the posts at any time. Simply click on the knitalong category and all related posts will pop up for you.

Merri Fromm is the fabulous designer of the Polly Pullover and she has generously whipped up the instructions for 1x and 2x sizes, 46 (50) inch bust. The original pattern goes to a size large with a 40 inch bust measurement. I am posting the Polly Pullover addendum to this post as a free download. You still need the original pattern as does everyone for all versions of the pullover/cardigan.

Click here to see the Polly Pullover pattern or to purchase the downloadable version from our pattern store!

The beautiful print pattern version of the pattern is always available in local and online yarn shops that carry Spud & Chloë.

Click here to download the Polly Pullover addendum for additional sizes!

Now for the yarn amounts for the additional sizes for the Polly Pullover (not the cardigan version but for the short sleeve pullover pictured on the pattern). As the addendum lists, the 1x size will need 10 hanks of Outer and the 2x size will need 12 hanks.

If you are making the long-sleeve cardigan version every size will need additional hanks of Outer over the yarn requirements listed in the pattern. Here is the size and the number of additional hanks you will need to add the sleeves and button bands:

For size XS and small—add 3 additional hanks (to the yarn requirements on the pullover pattern)

For size Medium—add 3 additional hanks (to the yarn requirements on the pullover pattern)

For size Large—add 4 additional hanks (to the yarn requirements on the pullover pattern)

For size 1X—add 5 additional hanks (to the yarn requirements on the pullover pattern)

For size 2x—add 6 additional hanks (to the yarn requirements on the pullover pattern)

I hope you’ll join in. Once we get going it won’t seem so complicated. Also, I hope that along the way you will see how you can take a basic pattern and add some simple changes to make the exact sweater you want. These are some great basic skills every knitter should have in their bag of tricks. Changing a pattern slightly to make something perfect for me is one of my favorite things to do and I want to pass that on to you.

It will be a fun knitalong with a great end result, a snuggly, warm cardigan for the fall and winter seasons ahead.

I’ll be back soon with more….