Letters
Destination Pullover: Pockets 101
Dear Kay,
I can’t think of the last time I cooked up a pocket.
Here’s a quick look at what I’m up to with what I’m calling The Real Quick Sweater, aka the Destination Pullover (Rav link) from Field Guide No. 17: Lopi.
When Mary Jane Mucklestone showed us her idea for this garment, we all zeroed right in on the pockets. So cute. Such an opportunity. Finally: a place to put that rock we pick up on our strolls along picturesque Maine shorelines.
So thrilling is the prospect of pockets that the first thing you do for this pattern is to knit up two squares, which will become the linings of the pockets, and leave them on the DPN you used to knit them. Hint: those live stitches are going to be useful in a minute.
This is of course an opportunity to knit a secret motif or date or whatever in there. I may duplicate stitch something later.
You start at the bottom and knit in the round upward. When you arrive at the pocket placement moment, you cast off 20 stitches for each pocket opening. Then, on the next round, you join in the pocket linings, knitting the live stitches at the top of the pocket lining so as to integrate the pocket lining into the garment.
Here’s the inside view of what the pocket linings look like once integrated.
In good time, you will stitch down the three sides of the pocket lining so as to make it an actual pocket.
I find this wildly satisfying.
You can see in the photo above the proof of stranding as I shifted from Rough Seas to Moor to Dark Grey. The Sparkle motif (found in Field Guide No. 17) is best used when you have decent contrast from color to color. But I don’t really care that my sparkles are dim. I know they’re there, night sparkles on the coast of Maine when the moon is low and bright.
The bound-off edges of the pocket curl in a decorative way, thanks to the natural tendency of stockinette fabric to curl.
An elegant bit of finishing: Mary Jane gives us the sloped shoulder bind off, which is a trick that makes the shoulder edge less of a stair-step moment. It will make my shoulder seam just that tiniest bit smoother.
Sort of like the curve of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. In Maine.
All good fun, and it’s happening in a matter of a few days. I’m working with a US size 11 (6 mm) needle, and the stitches looks so huge to me.
Do be sure to check a couple of small corrections to the pattern, right here. Nothing big, but you want it to be nice.
I recommend blasting your work as you go, with a steam iron to make the fabric smoother. I can’t wait for the full wet blocking of this—I can already tell that this sweater is going to be a favorite. When I’m in Maine. Someday.
Anybody out there dreaming of some summer thing to do? I’m really into the concept of outdoor dining right now.
Love,
Ann
Progress and inspiration…. Loving these earthy colors … POCKETS, well, heck yeah!
Thank you Ann…
Be well… MDK vibes feed my spirit and sanity: self care/love through creating beauty and wonderful things for myself and othet humans moves me right on into that space of equanimity … Yeah, it’s a thing.
I love your response! I feel the same way, but never articulated it the way you just did! Makes my knitting even more important to me. Thanks for posting this! Also, MDK as an important part of my life……that too.
Ann, love the sweater and those pockets! Wow! What colors are you using? I want to be a copy cat!
Ann, several commenters are asking about the colors you used for this sweater. Please identify! Thanks!
So happy to hear this, KD. I feel the same way about making things. It helps so much. So grateful for everybody who takes time to hang out with us.
Here in Maine, I’m dreaming of days warm enough to sit outside in shorts and a tee shirt: we’re almost there. Especially to do this on the coast, either the rocky part or a nice sandy beach, with the ocean waves lulling me into a contented, dreamy state.
Me too Ginny but by the lake for me! I haven’t knit a whole adult sweater for years but this one is calling me
The day are getting so much longer!
Love the colors! (I have friends who would say that those aren’t colors, but we know they are.)
Yes, that Moor color is just wild lol!
Would it be possible to republish the Field Guide errata in a separate article, so that it would be easy to bookmark and find later?
Hi Tina! We keep our corrections at the bottom of the MDK home page, with the aim of making them prominent and easy to find. We put all corrections for Field Guides on this page, so you can check for every Field Guide. I hope this helps: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/errata/
Thanks so much! I will check it out!
I was so excited to see this, thinking it would show HOW to sew down those pockets inside…… I love your sweater. I have a different sweater with the same type pockets and have struggled trying to figure out how to sew them neatly. Does anyone have tips??? Thank you!!!
Hi Melanie! I’ll be stitching them down shortly, will take some pix. It’s a straightforward whipstitch that I use.
I added pockets to a test knit that I finished recently and they are a similar style to Ann’s pockets. I just took a photo of the back of the pocket and added it to my Ravelry page. I am dsews2 and it is Moxie Test Knit. I simply tacked the pocket down loosely in one bottom corner – the one further from the front opening – by using the tail, catching it in the back of a couple of stitches, and then weaving the end in. This keeps the pocket from flopping about without distorting the front of the sweater. It is important to leave some slack in the tail when you tack it to the sweater front. This keeps the corner of the pocket from causing the pocket opening to get pulled on as you move around in the sweater and prevents distortion in the area where you attached the pocket corner to the front. I find that one corner gives it sufficient stability without causing problems down the road as the garment is worn and washed. I hope this helps!
One more tiny note…You do not want to use strong thread or yarn to tack down your pocket. If you end up getting the pocket caught on something, you want the attachment to be the weak part that breaks rather than the knitting.
I just looked at your Moxie test knit and I believe that the difference here is that your test knit pocket is whole unto itself and forms a pocket when just attached to the pocket opening of the sweater, whereas the pocket here is just the back and needs all three sides to be joined to the sweater to make a pocket.
OK, Ann. We get the idea. Now, repeat after Professor Higgins: “The rain in Maine stays…” (Kermit will need to inspect those pockets in case any cat treats are hiding there.)
Maine on the mind 24/7, just dying to get away. Kermit has no interest, obviously.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this oh-so-timely article! Looking forward to yarn reinforcements of Oatmeal Lettlopi (another one of those beautiful non-colors) to proceed with pocket placement. I can imagine a troop of ladies hiking Acadia National Park in pocketed, practical sweaters. Appreciate the corrections and all the goodness that comes from this site.
Yup, Maine here! Nice and warm today-80 degrees. Shorts for me while I choose colors for Destination or Daytripper. Love this book!
Ann, let’s not call your sparkles dim. You shine brightly, and so does your sweater. Your sparkles are STEALTHY.
And the sweater is looking great.
Maine is about 30 minutes away from me – we know of a small island for camping off midcoast Maine and we’re getting our popup ready for the summer. I’ve got lots of summer knitting and crochet planned – socks, granny squares, dishcloths, lots of cotton and linen. The projects are always planned and packed well before the food coolers.
The smell of pines mingled with the ocean… nothing compares.
My summer plans (and dreams) include our mostly-annual visit to Acadia. And summer dreaams closer to home: bike paths.