Design: Icelandic sweater with a zipper

This is a Lopi lite sweater knitted on a Bond USM knitting machine. I have used plate 3 1/2 on the USM and 6 mm and 4 mm needles for hand knitting the ribs and the yoke (bust & shoulder) part.

As I don't have a ribber to the USM I prefer to hand knit the rib and then hang the finished rib on the USM. I knit the required rows of rib and finish with one row of stocking stitch as I find this easier to hang on the machine.

I am not particularly fond of the weights supplied with the Bond USM so I prefer to use some claw weights when hanging my projects.

After knitting the required rows for back and front alike (remember to knit in the pockets in the front), 5 stitches are sat aside for later shaping the armhole and gathering the stitches on a needle for keeping until shaping the yoke (bust and shoulder) part.

The sleeves have some light shaping by increasing one stitch at each side every 5th row until 56 stitches when all rows have been knitted 5 stitches are set aside on each side for shaping the armhole, the rest of the stitches are gathered on a needle for keeping as for back and front.

Now it is time to start the yoke (bust and shoulder) part. Gather the 236 stitches on a 6 mm needle in the following way:

Right front

Right sleeve

Back

Left sleeve

Left front

Add two stitches between the two front pieces, these will be knitted purl in the remaining rows.

Knit the pattern decreasing as shown in the pattern

Finish by knitting 8 rows rib (use 4,0 mm needles) and cast off.

Sow up the sides (using mattress stitch) and rehang the stitches from under the arms ( 5 from each side of the selves (10 in total) right side facing you on the machine and then the 5 stitches from front and back (10 in total)) pick up 1 stitch in each side in order to prevent a hole from being formed wrong side facing you (right sides together) knit these 10 stitches together and cast off.

As the yoke is knitted in circle it needs to be cut open.

In this case this is done by crocheting the first stocking stitch on each side along the edge that needs to be cut and cutting between them.

Fasten off any loose ends, sow the sides of the pockets and fasten the pocket rib to the front. Add the zipper and finish by loosely sowing the zipper edges down on the inside.

Colors:

Pieces

Piece name Rows Stitches Repeat Size Tension