Genius Tips
Bang Out a Sweater: How to Finish Your Main Squeeze
Dear Kay,
The end is near! So many Main Squeeze sweaters are on the cusp of greatness!
As everybody approaches the finish line, we are hearing questions from folks who are wondering about things: How do I join the sleeve pieces to the body? How do I work the raglan decreases? Pick up stitches? Add pockets?
Great news! We have videos.
Jen Geigley, designer of all of the quick-to-make, joyful knitwear in MDK Field Guide No. 12: Big Joy, has made super-helpful short videos to guide us.
Jen’s background in graphic design is on full display in these clean and friendly mini-tutorials. They’re fun to watch.
You’ll feel like you’re sitting at Jen’s sunny table in Iowa, looking over her shoulder as she shares her tips.
The Main Squeeze Cardigan
Jen guides us through every action moment of constructing this coziest of cardigans. Even if you already know how to do some or all of these things, it’s nice to see exactly how Jen did it on the sample.
- Construction
2. Joining the Sleeves to the Body
3. Raglan Decreases
4, Picking Up Collar Stitches
5. Picking Up the Side Stitches
6. Attaching the Pockets
Thank you, Jen, for these tasty tidbits. I love how you speed up your knitting when you need to. Please teach us how to do that in real life.
Love,
Ann
PS Jen created how-to videos for all the projects in Field Guide No. 12. To watch them all, here’s a link to Jen’s Field Guide No. 12 video playlist.
Here’s how to save this post in your MDK account with one click.
Thank goodness for the video showing how to attach the sleeves. I’ve had the project stuck away for several months because my brain wouldn’t let me believe those *#@! sleeves would go on the right side of the work. Whew.
What great videos! I’ve finished my Main Squeeze (pullover), but loved the pattern and the yarn so much that I’m seriously considering knitting a cardigan in the not too distant future. I think the videos will be helpful for that. What a fun project this was. I’m so glad that you two suggested it and that I once again followed your lead!
Happy Knitting!
I am not even up to attaching the sleeves yet:p but I’ve watched all Jen’s videos and I’m confident I’ll have no problems with any of the construction. Thx Jen for super helpful videos!
Is the main squeeze sweater pattern unisex.
I think the answer might depend on your definition of unisex, but in my estimation, yes, this is a fairly unisex pattern. You might want to make some minor tweaks depending on what you’re aiming for.
The pattern doesn’t have any waist shaping — the body is the same circumference all the way from hem to chest — and the style details are pretty neutral. I think that the two things giving the cardigan a somewhat feminine look are the length (mid-thigh) and the sizing: if you compare the body measurements to the actual finished garment measurements, you can see that there is very little ease built in. So if you go by the body measurement sizing, the sleeves will be close-fitting and the cardigan body will tend to shape itself around the wearer’s curves.
Since this is a raglan sweater, you can easily pick a larger size to get more ease and a boxier look (ignore the recommended body measurements and pick a size with a finished garment sleeve and chest circumference that suits the wearer). It’s a bottom up sweater, so you’ll need to do a teensy bit of math if you also want to shorten it, but nothing complicated.
Thanks for the video on attaching the pockets – that’s the only part that worries me! Eventually I’ll get there – lack of knitting time combined with arthritis in my thumb joints (which really doesn’t like big needles!) is making me even slower than usual….
On page 15, under For Finished Bust Measurements 43 1/4, 45, and 461/2”…wouldn’t row 4 be the same as the other even numbered rows, binding off then working to end rather than ssk and k2tog as on odd numbered rows?