Drop-Stitch Hoodie

I finished this sweater a few weeks ago and have been wearing it a lot -- even though it's a bit chilly yet for such a springy item. I'm glad I got past my aversion to sewing in all the zippers and finally just did it.

Pattern:
Drop-Stitch Hoodie by Theresa Schabes from the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Knits.

Yarn:
Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Pistachio (the old discontinued stuff, not the resurrected New Cotton-Ease).

Modifications:
The pattern has garter stitch not only next to the zippers and around the opening of the hood, but also running along all the seams -- up the sides, down the underside of the sleeves, and around the armholes. I thought this looked texturally too busy so wherever an edge would be next to a seam I eliminated the garter stitch and just worked the body's drop-stitch ribbing pattern with some minor adjustments so the pattern would meet up at the seams correctly.

I didn't work the lower edges in smaller size needles. I just don't need it to draw in at the hem or the cuffs. In fact, if it should happen to stretch out a bit later on, I won't mind at all.

I lengthened the body mainly to fit me better but also because the zipper I chose for the front opening came in a 22 inch length instead of the 20 inch length the pattern called for.

I shortened the sleeves and redesigned the way the sleeve tapered between the wrist and the sleeve cap. First, the sleeves as indicated for my size would have been ridiculously long. They are still a bit long, but I don't mind having the sleeve come down over my hand slightly. Second, the pattern as written starts with a normal size cuff but doesn't begin increasing until about the elbow (above the opening for the cuff's zipper). Since my arm starts increasing immediately above my wrist and is about the same size at the elbow as my upper arm, I knew the sleeve increases would need to start much sooner. Using my row gauge, I figured out how many rows would give me the correct length and then calculated how often to work increase rows in order to spread them out evenly over those rows.

Errata: [If your not actually making this sweater, you probably want to skip this paragraph.]
On the right sleeve, either the right placket should be worked as written and the right main sleeve should begin with row 11 of drop-stitch 1 pattern instead of row 11 of the left main sleeve OR the right placket should be worked the same as the left placket and the right main sleeve as written continuing after they are joined with row 1 of the drop-stitch 2 pattern. This allows the stitch pattern to come together correctly above the zipper opening, whereas the pattern as written does not. (Ask me how I know!)

Other Notes:
Another 20 inch zipper is supposed to be sewn between the two halves of the hood, but the closest size my zipper came in was 22 inches. At first, I tried making the hood a couple inches bigger, but it looked silly. In the end, I just made the hood as written and sewed the zipper in with the extra length at the base of my neck. Since the hood is meant to be worn unzipped, the wrong side of the zipper and the extra zipper tape is hidden under the hood as it hangs down my back.

Since what would normally be the inside of the hood ends up being the side that shows in this case, I wish I had picked the stitches up for the hood with the wrong side of the garment facing me. If done that way, the wrong side of the seam would be hidden under the folded back hood instead of showing when the front opening isn't zipped all the way.

For the zippers, I matched my sewing thread to my green yarn. On second thought, it would have been better matching the white zipper tape. If I'm ever feeling extremely ambitious, I may reinstall them using white thread. Until then, it's too nit-picky of a detail to worry about.

My final thought is that overall I'm very happy with this sweater!

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tags: knitting