Zip Hoodie

So this is my purple raglan-ish, zip, hooded, purple sweater.

This is to fit a body of 38″ hip, 30″ waist, 38″ bust.

Yarn: 5 4.5 oz. skeins TLC Amore 

Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm

Gauge: 8 sts/2 in.

All pieces were worked seperately until the armpit, then they were worked together until the end.

Ravelry page

 

Back:

Cast on 72 sts

Seed st for 20 rows.

Work in stockinette st until piece measures 5″.

Start dec at both ends on every other right side row (K2tog at right end, SSK at left end) seven times (58 sts remain).

Continue with stockinette st, no decreases, until piece measures 12″

Increase at both ends on every other right side row three times (64 sts total).

Continue stockinette with no pattern for 20 rows.

Place on st holder.

 

Front:

Cast on 36

Seed st 20 rows.

The six sts on the left side will continue in seed st for the entire front (place marker). Continue in stockinette st until piece measures 5″.

Dec on right side every other right side row seven times (29 sts total).

Increase on right side every other right side row seven times (36 sts total).

Work in stockinette st for four rows.

Place on st holder.

Make second front piece with seed st border on the right and shaping on the left.

 

Sleeves:

The sleeves are worked to be long enough to cuff. (If this is something you don’t want, alter the sleeves by working only ten rows of stockinette st at the beginning of each sleeve).

Cast on 36 sts.

Seed st for 20 rows.

Work in stockinette sts for 30 rows.

Increase on each end every 20 rows four times (44 sts total).

Increase on each end every six rows twice (48 sts total).

Increase on each end every other row three times (54 sts total).

Place on st holder.

Make second sleeve.

 

Raglan:

Now all pieces are worked together. Place on circular needles in this order with st markers in between each piece: left front side, sleeve, back, sleeve, right front side. There should be a total of 244 sts.

Keeping the six sts of seed st on each end, on the right side decrease two sts away from each side of marker (4 sts away from marker: K2tog, K2, pass marker, K2, SSK).

Decrease in same manner every other right side row five times.

Decrease in similar manner with a one st decrease for the front and back, and a two st decrease for the sleeves every right side row five times.

Decrease in similar manner with a two st decrease for all pieces every right side row three times.

Decrease in similar manner with a two st decrease for the front and back, and a one st decrease for the sleeves every right side row once.

There should be a total of 76.

This is where I wish I had done something a little different. I just used these sts and continued on to the hood, and now it always slides off my shoulders. What I would suggest you do instead is to bind off, and then pick up the sts again.

 

Hood:

With 76 sts work in stockinette st with the 6 sts at either end worked in seed st for eight and a half inches.

Place marker in the center. Decrease one st on either side of marker every other right side row (two sts before marker: SSK, pass marker, K2tog) three times. 70 sts.

Decrease one st on either side of marker every right side row five times. 60 sts.

Decrease two sts on either side of marker every right side row once. 56 sts.

Decrease three sts on either side of marker every right side row once. 50 sts.

Place on two needles and bind off using a three needle bind off.

 

Zipper:

First I basted together both sides of the front, loosely and evenly with a contrasting colored yarn.

Then, with the zipper zipped I basted this to the inside of the front with a contrasting colored thread, again loosely and evenly.

Next I took out the yarn basting and pinned the zipper to the front, with the pins every few inches and perpendicular to the zipper.

Then, I unzipped the zipper and careful sewed it on using a sewing machine. Make sure to use a zipper foot. If you do not have one I might suggest simply removing the foot altogether. This is because you want the stitching to be very close to the teeth of the zipper.

After both sides of the zipper are sewn, zip it up to make sure it works, and then remove the thread basting.

Finishings:

Sew up all seams and sew in all ends. The seam for the seed st part of the sleeves was done on the outside. This part was then folded up and fastened with a bit of extra yarn.