The Amanda knitalong of Fall 2014 (aka #fringeandfriendsknitalong)

The Amanda knitalong of Fall 2014 — everything you need to know!

For Fall 2014, we’re doing something extra excellent here at Fringe Association. My good friend Anna Dianich and I had the urge to knit a fisherman cardigan together and settled on Amanda by Lena Holme Samsoe, from the book Essentially Feminine Knits. Before I knew it, it had turned into a knitalong with Fringe readers and featuring a Panel of Experts who are knitting in the spotlight — sharing their plans, progress and wisdom along the way. So it’s a chance to see a bunch of different knitters with differing priorities and viewpoints knit one sweater many different ways. Hashtag #fringeandfriendsknitalong

POSTS IN THIS SERIES (so far)

To read through all of the posts in one long reverse-chronological scroll, visit or bookmark this URL. To never miss a post, plug your email into the subscription field in the right rail of the page (not present on mobile devices).

— New Favorites: Lena Samsoe’s fisherman cardigan

— The official plan for the Amanda knitalong
The precursor to this page

— Someday vs. Right Away: small-scale Amanda alternatives
A scarf and hat from the Brooklyn Tweed Fall ’14 collection for those not wanting to tackle a whole cardigan

— Meet the Panel!
Our experts show us their swatches and talk about their differing sweater construction plans for Amanda

— How to knit and measure a cable swatch
Kate Gagnon Osborn walks us through best practices for swatching Amanda and cables in general

— Hot Tip: Annotate your charts
Meg and Karen’s differing approaches for marking up the same chart

— Jaime shows us her math
Jaime Jennings lays out her approach for making her larger gauge fit the pattern dimensions

— Team Seam vs. Team Seamless
Who’s taking which approach to the body — and how!

— This just in: A perfect fisherman pullover
An outstanding pullover alternative to the Amanda cardigan

— WIP of Week, week 1

— The secret to a truly great-fitting sweater
How to think about — and correct for — row gauge issues

— WIP of the Week, week 2
… and other fun stuff

— In pursuit of sleeve perfection
Tips on pattern matching, calculating sleeve length and increasing in pattern

— WIP of the Week, week 3

— Amanda panel progress report: Let’s see these sweaters!
Checking in with a few panelists who are having a newsworthy time of it

— WIP of the Week, week 4

— The button band conundrum
How Amanda’s button band is written — and how else you might work it

— WIP of the Week, week 5

— Joining sweater parts at the underarm: Here comes the fun!
How to assemble the parts and knit the seamless yoke

— WIP of the Week, week 6

— Amanda neck shaping, part 1
In which Karen plots a shawl collar modification

— Amanda neck shaping, part 2
In which Kate shows us her extensive mods, and talks about how to reshape a crewneck

— FO Sightings: Skiff hats of the knitalong

— The simple joy of seaming
Kate shows us how to work mattress stitch

— FO No. 1: Jaime Jennings
Jaime talks about her finished sweater — and what she might do differently next time

— FO No. 2: Meg Strong
Meg tells us how she pulled off her shawl collar modification

— FO No. 3: Kate Gagnon Osborn
Kate talks about her extensive mods

— A different way to shape a sweater
A look at Karen’s back darts for creating an A-line Amanda

— FO No. 4: Karen Templer
Karen interviews herself

— Basted knitting: Or, how (and why) to seam a seamless sweater
Karen’s theory and process for adding a “basting stitch” to seamless garments, starting with the Amanda yoke

— FO No. 5: Anna Dianich
Anna talks about her insights and tweaks

VITAL DETAILS

The pattern: Amanda (or any fisherman-style cable sweater or accessory of your liking)
The source: Essentially Feminine Knits
The schedule: Knit at your own pace, but we’ll be posting related content on the blog every week ~~through the end of October~~ for as long as it takes!
The hashtag: #fringeandfriendsknitalong — use it anywhere on the web you’re posting about your own progress

HOW TO PARTICIPATE — AND WIN PRIZES!

There is no sign-up form or initiation rite of any kind — this is a super casual affair. If you want to knit along, just cast on! It can be Amanda or any fisherman-cabled sweater or accessory you like. Post about it on a Ravelry project page, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook … wherever you like … as well as in the comments area of any of the blog posts here (linked below). We want to see what you’re up to, so make sure you use the hashtag #fringeandfriendsknitalong, and leave comments on the blog with links to your images.

I’ll be picking a favorite photo (or photos) to feature each week, starting Sept 26th and running through the end of October, and that WIP OF THE WEEK knitter will win a prize. But I can’t feature your garment if I don’t know it exists, so please link to your pics from the comments! And again, there’s no knitting schedule — you could be done in week 3 or casting on in week 8; it doesn’t matter! What I’ll be looking for is beautiful/funny/interesting/informative pics and captions wherever they may be.

OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS

Anna Dianich, Owner of Tolt Yarn and Wool (Instagram: @toltyarnandwool)
Kate Gagnon Osborn, Co-owner of Kelbourne Woolens (Instagram: @kelbournewoolens)
Amy Christoffers, Design Director at Berroco Inc (Instagram: @savoryknitting)
Jaime Jennings, Co-owner of Fancy Tiger Crafts (Instagram: @fancyjaime)
Meg Strong, Owner of KnitKnotes (Instagram: @knitknotes)
Rebekka Seale, Owner of Camellia Fiber Company (Instagram: @rebekkaseale)
and me, Karen Templer of Fringe Association (Instagram: @karentempler and @fringesupplyco)

To see the panelists’ swatches and hear their plans for how they’re tackling Amanda, don’t miss the Meet the Panel post!

AMANDA CARDIGAN PATTERN ERRATA

There is one published error in the size labeling of the back chart, which can be seen in this PDF: http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/109491.aspx

+ Additionally, there is a mis-charted cross. What is described as a 2/1/2 LC (2 over 1 left cross) in the Stitch Guide is charted as a right cross. If you want your sweater to look like the photos, with the left-crossed diamonds, work it as described in the Stitch Guide, despite the chart symbol.

+ There is also a missing purl symbol in all of the diamond charts. In rows 4 and 24, the 11th stitch of the 13-stitch diamond section (to the left of the two traveling knit stitches), there should be a purl dot, not an empty square. (See this photo from @stepsmakeri.)

+ Meg points out that the RIGHT FRONT selvedge looks cleaner and mirrors the left front selvedge better if slipped with yarn in back (wyib) rather than wyif as written.

SEE ALSO

— Amy Christoffers on swatching for Amanda on the Berroco blog

— Amy Christoffers on pattern alternatives on the Berroco blog

— Kate Gagnon Osborn on cabling without a cable needle on the Kelbourne Woolens blog

— Amy Christoffers demonstrates a simple and effective tubular cast-on on the Berroco blog