A handknit sweater is one of my maker goals for 2021, but I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole process. I decided that making a miniature sweater might help me feel more comfortable with the design and assembly of a sweater without having to commit to the full-size version.
- 1/10 skein of Flock Fibre Studio Take a Hike Sock – a fingering (1) weight yarn (colour: Antique Shop)
- Size 1 (2.25mm) knitting needles (I used ChiaoGoo 60cm circulars)
Pattern by Veera at Rain Knitwear Designs
Not surprisingly, this sweater worked up extremely quickly. At first, I was confused about the ridges that were forming, but after investigating, I learned that they were for raglan sleeves! Apparently the person that it was named after, Lord Raglan, lost one of his arms at the Battle of Waterloo, and a tailor began making him jackets with this type of sleeve to give him better range of movement with the remaining arm.
I did end up with a small gap between the sleeve and the body in the armpit area, but I was able to seam it shut with the yarn ends. When I make my full-size sweater, I’ll try to pick up extra stitches in that area if the pattern doesn’t have already have an adaptation for that problem.
In the description for this pattern, they mention that you can use this mini sweater as a decoration on your Christmas tree, but I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with mine. To be honest, my interest in mini sweaters was sparked when I flipped through my public library’s copy of Star Wars: Knitting the Galaxy and saw the cutest mini sweaters featuring different villains like Darth Vader and Boba Fett, so I’m thinking I might use duplicate stitches to add something cute to this little sweater.
Now that I’ve done this miniature test run, I’m feeling empowered to try a larger sweater. I’ll let you in on a secret – I already have my pattern picked out. I just need to buy my yarn and cast on! Keep your eyes posted on this space if you’re curious, because I’m sure it’ll spark many many blog posts.
Until next time, happy crafting!