Sunday 27 September 2015

Super Chunky Cowl Neck Jumper

© Hooker Chick

This has to be THE easiest jumper to make!

I am sooooooo pleased with it, and from first stitch to completion with no frogging – amazing! My freestyle makes never normally go as smoothly.

It's super comfy to wear too as the front and back is made in one piece, so no bulky seams across the top of the shoulders.

As usual, I have made this to fit me – 36” bust – with the finished measurements being 40” around the body, body length 22”, sleeve length 18.5” . But it should be pretty easy to size up – just add stitches in even numbers, so an addition 4 sts per row would add just under 2 inches around the body, and 6 sts would increase by just over 2 inches. Add stitches evenly as when you come to count for the neck hole, no matter how many stitches you add, you still want the neck hole to be 28 stitches. So if you added 4 sts, you would count 13sts/28sts/13sts at the neck, adding six stitches make the count 14sts/28sts/14sts, and so on. If you are adding stitches to the width to accomodate a larger bust size, you should add to the overall length too, by adding rows evenly to the front and back, e.g. adding 2 rows to the front and 2 rows to the back will increase the overall length by 1 inch. I hope this makes sense.


Okay ... you will need:
  • 8 x 100g/3.5oz skeins of Berroco Borealis Tweed (I used colour 5094) or 800m/864yds of another, super chunky yarn of your choice.  Borealis is a 52% acrylic/33% wool/15% rayon mix, which gives the jumper a lovely soft feel, so look for a similar mix.  If sizing up, remember to buy additional yarn. 
  • 7mm and 8mm hooks
  • Darning needle to sew in ends
  • Contrasting thread to use as stitch markers

The entire jumper (including neck) is worked in rows back and forth, hooking through the 'v' at the top of each htr of the previous row.

Begin each row with ch 2 – this counts as the first stitch.

Back/front, sleeves and neck are all made using 8mm hook. Use the 7mm for the slip stitch seam – it makes it a little less bulky.

Abbreviations ~ ch (chain), htr (UK half treble).

Tension ~ 10 sts/8 rows = 4 inch square


BACK ~ make a foundation row in htr - 50 sts in total (ch 2 + 49 htr) - see photos 1- 12 of the instructional picture below ...

© Hooker Chick

Next row as photos 13 - 16.  Repeat for a further 42 rows (or to desired length if sizing up) - 44 rows in all including the foundation row.

NECK HOLE ~ ch 2, htr 10, ch 28, htr 11 (if sizing up, add htrs evenly either side of ch 28).

FRONT ~ ch 2, htr 10, htr x 28 into each top loop of the chain, htr 11. Continue each row in htr for a further 43 rows (or for same number of rows as the back), 44 rows in all.

SLEEVES ~ count and mark 28 rows from bottom of front and back, and with right side facing out, join yarn at row 29. If you have added rows to the length of the back/front, remember to count these too, so if you have added 2 rows, count 30 rows from bottom, joining yarn at row 31.

Rows 1 – 4, ch 2, htr 31
Row 5, ch 2, htr 30
Rows 6 – 9, ch 2, htr 29
Row 10, ch 2, htr 28
Rows 11 – 14, ch 2, htr 27
Row 15, ch 2, htr 26
Rows 16 – 19, ch 2, htr 25
Row 20, ch 2, htr 24
Rows 21 – 24, ch 2, htr 23
Row 25, ch 2, htr 22
Rows 26 – 36, ch 2, htr 21

36 rows in all ~ don't cut your yarn just yet! With right sides facing together, change to 7mm hook and slip-stitch seam along arm and down first side. This means no ends to sew in at the wrist.

Repeat on other side for sleeve number two.

NECK
~ with right side facing out, join yarn at one side of neck, then (ch 2, htr 57) x 20 rows. When you come to the end of each row, join with slip stitch through the second chain of first stitch of previous row.  Start each row with ch 2 and turn, but miss the first 'v' and make your 1st htr into the 2nd 'v'.  If you make the 1st htr in the 1st 'v', you will end up increasing by 1 stitch per row.

Just a few pesky ends to sew in, and you're done!  Happy hooking :-)
© Hooker Chick