Weasley Sweaters for my boys

Well this is going to be a bit different today! I am going to talk about two sweaters that I knit for my boys right before Christmas! I think they turned out really well and they really love them. I have to remind them to be gentle with them and to avoid wrestling around (try telling boys that…HA!). I will see them stretch the neckline and do all sorts of things that make me cringe but my stitches hold up haha! I just got so many cute pics with them in their sweaters so I had to share this blog post. Also, I believe there are many of you that also knit on top of sewing! I think knitting provides such a different kind of experience for me and is more relaxing and allows me to spend more time with my family! I have an intro/how I started knitting youtube video here in case you are interested! Without further ado, let’s get started!

I had found several patterns that would work for a Harry Potter Weasley sweater, but I was not experienced with changing colors mid project and inserting a letter within the garment. I decided to go for a more simple version or pattern and find a general sweater pattern for the kids that I could embroider on top of. I think this pattern suits the goal very well. It is the Flax sweater by Tin Can Knits and it is a free pattern! Even better!

I used the duplicate stitch method which is a process in which you basically copy the knit stitch in order to place another color or design on top (more on that later)

Let’s talk about the yarn I chose for this project. I really wanted a soft yarn because if it was even a little bit scratchy, my kids would complain big time! Before I purchased this particular yarn, I looked at several and read the reviews to determine if it would be soft enough on the Knit Picks website. I also had to make sure it could be washed…I mean do I really need to explain that one haha. I also really wanted a tweed yarn to get the true look of the sweater. I stumbled upon this beautiful Superwash Highland wool (Provincial Tweed). It was absolutely perfect and worsted weight, which is what the pattern called for. It seemed a very very light worsted weight but worked with the pattern. I used the colors candy apple and winter walk for the two boys sweaters.

I decided to do their first initial instead of an “H” for Harry Potter because a true Weasley sweater would have their initials if Mrs. Weasley had actually made it haha. I wish I could make it exactly like her but she has magical knitting needles that knit for her sooooooooo that is not so much an option…I digress. Can you tell every one in the family is a huge Harry Potter fan! Now, back to the issue of putting the letter on. First, it would be wise to watch a YouTube video on doing the duplicate stitch. This is one that was helpful for me.

There were several issues that I discovered doing this method. It turned out very well in the end, but I thought I would fill you in on some of the problems I faced. First of all, the color I desired to use for the duplicate stitch, in the exact same yarn, was out of stock. This was a problem because you want to make sure the yarn has the same gauge. It is not going to look right or rest comfortably if it is too small or bigger than the gauge of the base yarn you are knitting on. It will buckle or pucker and the stitches won’t be able to rest comfortably next to each other. I purchased yarn that was worsted weight but was a little too thick because after putting on an entire letter, the sweater was buckling all over the place. I decided to rip it out carefully and head to the store to find a thinner yarn that matched my bottom yarn. I found something that was actually DK weight and it matched the worsted weight yarn I used to knit the sweater a lot better! I used this for the letter and it was amazing! I also want to add that it was an acrylic yarn because you want to make sure it is a yarn you can wash. They did not have any super wash wool in the store. If you are putting a letter on top and the whole sweater can be washed but the letter cannot, then you are in trouble! So be mindful of what you use to duplicate stitch and use the same yarn, different color, as the sweater if you can!

Another tip for duplicate stitching was the direction in which you do the stitching. I started from the bottom right corner and went back and forth only up. If you do the design top to bottom, and you only pass under your previous duplicate stitch and not the sweater, then it will pull the stitches in and leave gaps in between your columns. Just go from the bottom up!!! All the other tips and tricks are explained well in the youtube video I linked so you will be good!

So now you are probably wondering how you create your pattern for the letter!!! First, you need to knit your sweater. Then you need to block it or wash it and lay it out to dry. Once it is dry then you can determine the size and location of your letter. Measure how many rows tall and how many columns wide this is. Then you will have your base to make a pattern for the letter. I looked at other letter patterns to see the general shape and then I used a website talked about in this video here. Once I made the letter pattern, I printed it out and used it to put on my letter! Make sure you make a note of where the bottom right corner is so you know where to start!

That’s all folks!! That’s pretty much all you need to know about these sweaters. I hit a few normal bumps along the way while knitting them but nothing very unusual! I know this wasn’t about sewing but I hope you still enjoyed it! There is so much more to me than sewing and I really love sharing it all!!!! And don’t mind my son, he likes to love on our Newfoundland the best way he knows how…to just ride him and Jarvis (the dog) loves it haha.