Grettir Jumper

Three years in the making, and I’ve finally finished knitting my Grettir Jumper. A pattern by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed, Grettir is a seamless, bottom up jumper knit in the round with various shaping options and a colourwork yoke.

I started Grettir back in 2020, and spent a lot of time choosing colours for the yoke. This doesn’t come naturally to me, and I have to really think about contrast in hue and tonal value so the pattern ‘works’. Get colours too close in either category, and they blend into one (which may or may not be the effect you are looking for).

Swatching colourwork is essential IMO so you can see how the colours work (heh) with each other.

For this pattern, I wanted a distinct contrast so you could see each element of the pattern design. After experimenting with various shades from different yarn companies, I chose Drops Nepal (65% highland wool, 35% alpaca) for their wide variety of colours and affordable price point.

Their mustard yellow “Goldenrod” was the perfect base for a 70s themed colour pattern of browns, beige, off white and forest green.

When knitting a bottom-up pattern, I prefer to split the knitting in two: I do a provisional cast on (Fleegle’s is best for this method, unless you want to spend hours casting on) underneath the yoke, and knit upwards to the neckline. This allows me to preserve any design features, such as the colourwork yoke, which look best knitted in one direction.

When the yoke is finished, I then pick up the other half of the provisionally cast on stitches, and knit down, as if finishing a top-down garment. This means I can try on as I go for yoke depth, arm width and length, and body shape. I can also use up all my yarn with no fear I will run out at the end.

It’s not super complicated if you use an easy provisional cast on, and captures the best of both worlds of bottom-up and top-down.

I think I followed the pattern directions for the sleeves, but knit the body straight down with no further shaping. The sleeves and body are finished with Andi’s Modified Stretchy Bind Off – I will do anything to avoid tubular cast on/off. This cast off has just enough stretch but keeps its shape nicely, unlike tubular bind off which tends to warp out of shape.

I also chose the rolled neckline option instead of the turtleneck.

Overall, I’m very happy with this jumper. It’s a nice, relaxed fit; the yoke is so much fun, and I love the colours. It’s extremely comfy to wear and the Drops Nepal washed up beautifully. I will most certainly use it again – for its price point it’s a lot nicer than comparable commercially available yarn in Australia.