Croisière sweater in 2 weeks

The Croisière pullover in 2 weeks

An adventure from January 7 to January 20, 2024, 14 days.

References: the pullover Croisière by designer Marie-Christine Lévesque from her book Garde-Robe published in 2023. I refer you to her site without affiliation.

The first 24 hours

The adventure began like this.

I was organizing my project bags in my Atelier (workspace). One of them, for some reason, caught my attention more than the others. I opened it, and then I remembered this project. Suddenly, I couldn't see this project in this yarn. Don't get me wrong the project is a beautiful cardigan [that I'm going to knit] but I see it in another yarn.

🧶An adventure in stitches can range from 80 meters to thousands of meters. A sweater with 2,500 meters of yarn means 2.5 km of stitches gliding over your needles and through your fingers. Isn't that great? In short, that's why it's so important to appreciate the yarn that passes back and forth between your hands in relation to the project you're creating.

So here I am, faced with this project. What should I do? Without hesitation, I removed the project from its "nest", and the stitches from the needle. The whole thing slipped like a charm. As if it had to happen that day, at that time. I took the balls from the project bag. Sitting in the living room [the best time to complete listening to a documentary]. I unraveled my project! Does that surprise you? Understanding the impact of one's dormant projects in the closet in their project bag, far from our eyes, is powerful for our knitting adventure. They're waiting and seemingly present on our shoulders (that's figurative) like that mini red devil on our shoulder. Frogged, or rather making the decision to touch and reflect on the project. Reread the pattern too. And honestly say to ourself "I'm not going to finish this project in this yarn". This simple sentence brings a certain release. It's powerful! I can attest to that. What follows is phenomenal.

At the living room, I recomposed the yarn into balls. In the end, I had several bullet sizes in front of me. No worries with these multiple balls. There will be more threads to tuck in. It's minor, since I have one less project that says "To be completed", and I have a beautiful yarn ready for transformation.

🧶 Colour #1 : Dashboard (2589), Nightshades, 100% american cormo, by Harrisville Designs

The adventure has just begun!

As soon as I saw the yarn again, I was reminded of one of the projects on my list of ready-to-wear creations: designer Marie-Christine Lévesque's Croisière pullover from her book Garde-Robe, published in 2023. I had the pleasure of meeting Marie-Christine at the La P'tite Laine festival held in Rivière-du-Loup last September (2023).

Our exchange certainly enabled me to get to know her a little better [than on social media], and to see, touch and feel her prototypes. More like her version of her Garde-Robe, and more. The Croisière sweater caught my eye with the textured shoulder detail and the addition of buttons, as well as the stripes. This color #1 was to become the main color (MC) of my version of the Croisière sweater. The problem was that two (2) skeins wasn't nearly enough for my target size "S", size 2. Solution?

Back to my inventory. My eyes fell on two (2) skeins of a neutral color. I approach color #1, and the combination is right. I've found my contrasting color. As described in the pattern, two colors are suggested. I knew that four (4) skeins would be enough [always] based on my rough analysis of available sizes. The neutral added an interesting contrast, however it lacked that zest, that sparkle I love in my ready-to-wear.

🧶 Colour #2 : Hazel, Barnabas, 100% mérinos superlavable, by Fibrelya.

My sample in progress on my needles. The big question. Are you preparing a swatch for your sweater projects of all kinds? I'll leave you to meditate THE question. Back to my swatch. I stopped. Just a thought! Last year, at the Knit City Montréal event, I acquired one (1) orange skein. And yes, just one. My encounter with Shireen and Tito from The Blue Brick (a dyer in Ontario) came back to me. This orange yarn was THE zest to add to my version of the Croisière pullover.

🧶 Colour #3 : Crepuscular, Muskoka, 80% superwash merino, 10% cashemir and 10% nylon, by The Blue Brick.

In 24 hours, I accomplished these steps:

✅ Frogged one project.

✅ Reclaimed two (2) skeins.

✅ Selected my new project.

✅ Selected my yarns.

✅ Knit my sample.

✅ Analyzed my sample.

✅ Selected my knitting size.

✅ Analyzed my stripe construction.

✅ Started the sweater!

My version according to the pattern

The pattern shows the stripes in a two-color repeat that turns into math for me. I was determined to use my three (3) yarns. How to make this combination while respecting Marie-Christine's structure and design.

↪️ Note: Here, I'll discuss the pattern generally out of respect for author's rights. If you have the pattern, I invite you to refer to it. Or, refer to the summary of the pattern page on Marie-Christine's website.

Take notes. Take notes. An essential step in understanding what's going on in the pattern, and where to apply changes (if possible). Notebook in hand, I transcribe the pattern's rows as I reread it.

An exercise for you, based on the sizes offered for the Croisière sweater, and without a sample; which of the sizes would you knit for yourself?

For my part, I choose the second size, "S". The moment of truth comes when working with a sample. I knit mine with the suggested needle size of 4.5 mm. With my sample flat on my work surface, I measure the number of stitches and rows over 4 inches. Oh surprise! I was so surprised that I counted a few times before realizing that this was what I had in front of me.

🧶 28 stitches per 30 rows over 4 inches with 4.5 mm needles.

The pattern tension is 20 stitches per 28 rows over 4 inches with 4.5 mm needles. I ended up with 8 stitches and 2 rows more than requested. What does this mean? Well, per inch, 28 stitches / 4 inches = 7 stitches per inch :: and in the pattern 20 stitches / 4 inches = 5 stitches per inch. In conclusion, I need two (2) stitches more to reach one (1) inch. This has a major impact on my final choice of size. Without a sample, I would have knitted size 2, which wouldn't have worked. Not at all. It would have been ? Too small, that's right. I would have knitted hours and hours of stitches for a disappointing result. It's avoidable! Do you see the importance of building your sample? I could have knitted a new sample with a 5 mm needle size, to get closer to the 21 stitches for 4 inches. However, I liked the texture of the fabric with a 4.5 mm needle. Finally, I knitted the large size. In the end, I have a new ready-to-wear garment that suits me perfectly. All I have to do now is finish tucking in the threads.

The last point I had to analyze was the construction of my stripes. Still referring to my notes after reading the pattern, I figured out how to integrate my stripe math without altering Marie-Christine's design. For my version, I knitted 12 rows of the main color, followed by 2 rows of contrasting color #1, then 2 rows of contrasting color #2, finally 2 rows of contrasting color #1. And so on. The sample allowed me to put the idea of mixing colors to the test.

In the end,

Lesson #1: The swatch is crucial.

Lesson #2: Look at your inventory and don't hesitate to add your stripe idea for a pattern you love.

Lesson #3: You are the master of your projects, always in respect of the designers.

Be proud of your knitwear, your ready-to-wear!