Tags
berroco, circular knitting, indigo, nautical, picking up stitches, pocket, pullover, ravelry, shellseeker, stripes, sweater, sweatshirt, top-down, tutorial
Working through the pocket is the last big challenge in this sweater. Once we’re past this, it’s on to the sleeves (which are a breeze!).
I made a quick video, verbally pointing out what these different parts of the sweater look like. The only thing I haven’t done yet is the “pocket lining” part. I didn’t want to wait to post this until I had finished the knitting, though.
After we get through separating for the sleeves, we connect back into knitting in the round. Heidi has you mark two spots on the front of the sweater to resume increasing for some pocket shaping. These increases are balanced out by decreases at the side, so that your overall stitch count, and the overall size of your sweater, isn’t changing at all.
Once you have the right number of pocket stitches between the markers, you will work only on the pocket for a number of rows. When your pocket is all done, you must pick up stitches along the back of your sweater at the beginning of the pocket to resume knitting in the round for the body. Heidi provides some photos illustrating this process in her pattern, but I thought I would add a couple more-
Flip your pocket “flap” over so that the wrong side is facing and find the last row of color B that you knit before you started knitting on only the pocket. Pick up stitches, using color A, into the purl bumps of this row all the way across.
If you can find that first purl bump in the corner, it’s easy to go across the row picking up one after another. But, before you continue knitting in the round, take an overall look at your row to be sure you didn’t hop down to the second-to-last row of color B.
Now you’re ready to keep knitting in the round! The same pocket shaping you were knitting continues under the pocket, until the body is the same length as the pocket. Then you knit a little pocket lining to give your pocket some depth, so that anything that goes in it, stays in it! I’m just about to knit my pocket lining.
Hope that helps you visualize what is happening with this whole pocket business! Let me know if you have any questions at all as you’re knitting. I’ll try to help as best I can!
Sage Yarn 
Shoot Jen. I am at the beginning of the pocket and somehow I ended up doing the increase and decrease row in color A,instead of color B. I don’t know whether just to rename them for this part of the sweater or do 2 rows of color b without increases and decreases before I start doing the pocket. Help!?
No problem! Whatever color you’re on to start the pocket is fine. You’ll just have to make sure when you put the pocket on hold and then return to the body that you pick up the right color to get started. Easy peasy! The designer does a good job of laying it all out for us so that all the stripes match, but if you just keep an eye on it, you can do it yourself.
Whew! As usual Jen you are so helpful and reassuring. See you on Saturday!