Boat necking

Dear Diary,

Hans:  Mein Vati has been knitting away for me.  The latest line are boat neck jumpers.

Jesse:  If I'm correct, boat neck jumpers were popular about 50 years ago but fell out of fashion and I haven't seen any for a while (which means nothing, by the way).  I found this pattern and I decided it would make a great jumper for Hans, with some alterations.  All these jumpers are knitted with DK knitting wools.

Red Jumper


This is the first one knitted.  It originally calls for an opening on each side of the neck, each of which are fastened with a button.  I don't like to pull anything over a doll's head so I closed up the openings and put a full length opening down the back which closes with buttons.  I don't like seams so when I knitted the back up to the top of the sleeves, I just kept knitting down to the bottom ribbing.  I avoided the shoulder seam but I still have 2 seams at the sides and 2 under the arms to work.  I replaced the collar and cuff ribbing with an applied I-cord which suited it nicely.  I remembered that the first boat neck I knitted for myself from my own design was finished with I-cord.

Blue Jumper




The second jumper has some improvements over the first one. I reworked the opening in the back so that the button bands were less bulky. To begin the garment, I knitted all of the body below the sleeves, separating the front and back at the beginning of the sleeves.  This eliminated the side seams.    I then knitted the shoulders, front and back separately  When they were finished, I grafted the shoulder seam, eliminating it altogether. This was a new experience; I'm good at doing Kitchener but I'd never grafted garter stitch before.  It was actually simpler than Kitchener.  So, there were only 2 seams to sew, those under the sleeves.  

Brown & White Jumper


 This third jumper came out the best so far.  I made the neck a bit smaller, more like the blue one. But, I think that I prefer to wider opening of the first jumper.  The garter stitch grafting came out excellent this time.  The YouTube video directions say to pull the stitches tightly which I knew doesn't work for Kitchener but I followed these directions on the blue jumper and the join was a bit tight.  This time I did them more loosely as I would for Kitchener and they look invisible.

 Red with Silver 

This jumper is a vintage red with a grey strand throughout.  It is lovely.  I chose this photo because I liked the way the shadow played on his face rather than for the jumper.

The jumper shows better here.  I really like how my techniques have brought some quality to this jumper.  I shrunk the neck opening a bit more, put a I-cord around the openings and did an Estonian cast-on which is very flexible and great with ribbing.  I still need to get the join of the underside of the sleeves (the only joins in the garment) more professional looking.  As you probably have guessed, there is an opening with buttons the full length of the garment on the back.

 Brown, Tan & Cream

 These three colours are mutually complimentary and look great in a garter stitch pattern.


Blue/Green with Multi-Colour Speckles

 I really like the colour of this jumper.  The blue/green is very vintage looking and the speckles set it off nicely.



This pattern has been very useful, giving a jump-start to Hans' wardrobe.  In addition, with the modification of technique that I've made, it's easy and quick to knit up.  My boy has no complaints and he's ready for the upcoming winter.

 On now to another new knitting pattern.  I think we have enough boat neck jumpers for the rest of our lives.

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