Classic short sleeve sweater for Mom

I had a fun cotton blend yarn in DK weight in my stash and decided to make a sweater for my Mom. I thought the color would look good on her (it does on me) and she likes shades of blue. The silver thread accent makes it a little fun. I offset the bright color and glitter by using classic shaping.

It took a little under 4 balls to complete the project.

Design inspirations

I borrowed design elements from the following patterns I had:

The first one is a basic sweater pattern Lion Brand likes to recycle. It has a clean and simple line. I used that pattern for the sleeve shaping. The second is a discontinued pattern by Berroco. I was interested in the shaping at the waist and in the V neck. In both, I reduced the sleeve opening, as it seemed too long. My Mom is also petite.

The finished sweater

I yet have to ship the sweater off to France and visit my Mom so I can take a picture. This will take months and there is no guarantee she will agree to model the sweater for me. So here is the finished product, on me. It is meant to be more fitted and the sleeves are only kimono-like because my little arms are not filling them. I am hoping that the sleeves will go down to just above the elbows on my Mom. Her arms are slightly longer than mine and the sweater won't droop on her shoulders as it does on mine. She sent me the measurements of one of her favorites tops, but that did not include the sleeve length or width. I used her standard size for the sleeve width.

Schematics

I created these schematics from putting the inspiration patterns, the measurements my Mom sent, and my own ideas and estimates together. I like to use centimeters, as it is 1) the unit I grew up with and 2) it is a small enough unit that one does not have to go with quarters, halves and 3 quarters (I hate fractions).

Yarn and gauge

The yarn I used is Ella DK (Double Knit) by Sirdar. It has 11 wraps per inch. The standard gauge is 22 stitches for 4 inches, on US 6 (4.0 mm) needles. It is a cotton, acrylic blend with a bit of polyester. It is ideal as a summer top for South Bretagne (where summers are not very warm).

For me, the gauge worked out to be 18 stitches and 26 rows for a 10x10 cm square. I used that gauge in designing my sweater.

Instructions

Back: 

Cast on 100 stitches. Work in 1/1 ribbing for 1 cm. Continue in st st until piece measures 8 cm from beginning.

Decrease on each side 5 stitches over 20 rows for the waist (that is decrease one stitch on each side every 4th row).

Work 4 cm even, then increase 5 stitches on each side over 20 rows (increase one stitch on each side every 4th row).

When work measures 29 cm from the beginning, shape the sleeve holes

Bind off 6 stitches at the beginning of next 2 rows - 88 stitches

Decrease 1 stitch each side every RS row 4 times - 80 stitches

When work measures 50 cm from beginning, BO at the beginning of every RS rows for shoulders: 11 stitches on each side, then 10 (21 stitches decreased on each side).

Place the central 38 stitches left on the needle on a stitch holder

Front:

Work the same as the back, but start the V neck shaping at the same time as the sleeve holes, on a RS row.

Work 49 stitches, BO the center 2 stitches, join another ball of yarn and work the rest of the row (49 stitches on each side). Work both sides simultaneously.

While working on the sleeve holes as for back, decrease 1 stitch at each side of the neck line on the next 2 RS rows. Do not do any neck decreases on the 3rd RS row. Repeat this pattern (decrease on two consecutive RS rows, skip decrease on next RS row) until there are 21 stitches left for each shoulder.

BO for shoulders the same way as for back.

Sleeves:

CO 62 stitches

Work 1 cm in 1/1 ribbing

Increase one stitch on each side every 4 rows and 6 alternatively, until you have made 6 increases total - 74 stitches

Start rounding for shoulders when sleeve is 17 cm long

BO 6 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows - 62 stitches

Decrease 1 st each side every RS row 4 times - 54 stitches

Decrease 1 st each side every other RS row 5 times - 44 stitches

Decrease 1 st each side every RS row 3 times - 38 stitches

BO 3 stitches at the beginning of the next 4 rows - 26 stitches

BO 7 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows - 12 stitches

BO remaining 12 stitches

Finishing:

Join shoulder seams. Using 4 mm circular needle, pick up 98 stitches around the neck edge, including the 38 stitches left on the stitch holder for the back of the neck. Be sure to pick up a center stitch right at the point of the V neck, by pickup up a loop one row below and twisting to avoid a hole, if necessary.

Work 2 cm of 1/1  ribbing, using the special technique below to shape the V. Switch to 3.5 mm needle after working 1 cm of ribbing.

Point of V neck shaping: Work until 1 stitch from center stitch. Slip that stitch to right needle. Place center stitch on cable needle in front of work. Slip the next stitch to right needle. Slip the center stitch from the cable needle to the right needle, making sure it is not twisted. Slip the two stitches you put on the right needle onto the left needle, again, taking care not to twist or overlap the three stitches. Knit the 3 stitches together.

Detail of the point of the V neck. If done properly, the technique above produces the nice row of knit stitches down the middle.