Skills needed Materials Instructions

Cheers
by Cheryl Niamath
Here’s a little sweater ornament you can whip up
in a couple of hours. The project is worked in the
round from the top down, with no seams. The tiny
coat hanger makes it easy to hang up on your tree
Skills needed
knitting in the round, increasing.
Materials
•Some yarn from your stash (not even a whole
ball; probably less than half a ball). Shown in
Noro Cash Iroha (green) and Elann Peruvian
Highland Wool (red). The sweaters shown each
used about 10 metres of yarn.
•A set of five double-pointed needles in a size
appropriate for your yarn.
•2 pieces of scrap yarn, about 10 cm (4 inches)
long, for holding the sleeve stitches
•tapestry needle
•stitch marker or split ring
•A piece of stainless steel wire to make the coat
hanger
•a pair of needle-nosed pliers and wire cutters
•a piece of paper and a pencil
Gauge: doesn’t matter. If you use thicker
yarn, your sweater will be bigger. (but don’t use
anything thicker than a worsted weight for this
project unless you have a very robust Christmas
tree).
Finished size: will vary, depending on yarn
Instructions
Cast on 12 stitches over 4 DPN as follows: first
needle, 4 stitches; second needle, 2 stitches; third
needle, 4 stitches; fourth needle, 2 stitches.
Join to work in the round, being careful not to
twist stitches.
Work one round in stockinette stitch. Place marker
to indicate beginning of round. Work one or two
more rounds in St st. (the more rounds you make,
the higher the collar will be, so if you want a
turtleneck, make four or five rounds).
Increase:
Now you are going to start increasing to make
the front, back and sleeves of the sweater. Every
other row, you will knit into the front and back of
the first and last stitch on each needle. In between
each increase round, work a round in stockinette
stitch. After the first increase round, you will have
20 stitches on your needles. After the second
increase round, you will have 28 stitches. After the
third round, you will have 36 stitches, and after the
fourth round, you will have 44 stitches.
Pattern & photographs © Cheryl Niamath 2007 • For non-commercial use only.
Finishing:
Put the sleeves on hold:
After completing your fourth increase round, knit
12 (all the stitches on your first needle). Take your
first scrap piece of yarn, thread it through your
tapestry needle, and slip the next 10 stitchs onto
the scrap. This will be your first sleeve, but you will
come back to it later. Knit the next 12 stitches, then
slip the last 10 stitches onto your second scrap of
yarn.
Complete the body:
You now have 24 active stitches. Divide these over
your 4 needles (6 stitches/needle) and work in the
round, using one of the following finishing options
(or make up one of your own):
•Garter ridge (shown in green version): knit 5
rounds, purl 1 round, knit 3 rounds, purl 1 round,
knit 3 rounds. Bind off all stitches loosely.
You don’t need to spend a lot of time weaving in
ends, because it’s not like anyone will be wearing
or washing this sweater. Just make sure your ends
are out of sight. You might need to close up some
gaps in the armpits. Some people have issues with
sewing up gaps in their knitting, but in this case,
please don’t let it worry you.
Make the coat hanger:
Lay your sweater on a piece of paper, and use a
pencil to trace its outline. Sketch out the shape of
a coat hanger that will fit. Then bend your wire
into shape, using your drawing as a guide. You
could even decorate the end of your hanger with
a glass bead if you were feeling really festive and
had some beads lying around.
•Ribbed (shown in red version): knit 10 rounds,
then work last 3 rounds in K1P1 rib. Bind off
loosley, in rib pattern.
Complete the sleeves:
Transfer sleeve stitches from scrap yarn to 3 DPNs
as follows: first needle, 4 stitches; second needle, 3
stitches; third needle, 3 stitches. Join yarn (leaving a
long-ish tail so that you can close up any little gaps
later) and work a three rounds in st st. Next round,
K2tog, then work to end of round (9 st remaining).
Work 10 more rounds, then bind off loosely. Repeat
for second sleeve. other patterns by Cheryl Niamath:
false modesty
fetching
wisp
sprout
dashing
About the designer:
Cheryl Niamath lives and knits in Vancouver, Canada. Her designs have appeared in knitscene,
Knitty, knotions, Interweave Knits and Expectant Little Knits: chic designs for moms to be (Lark
Books, 2008). See more of her projects and ideas on her website www.fetchingknits.thruhere.net
or find her on Ravelry as CherylN.