114 comments on “Three Rectangles, Two Triangles”

1. Looking forward to making my first sweater with you. I’m out of work and the funds are running low but as soon as I’m working and able to purchase this pattern and some yarn I will definitely start with your video.
   I’ve already done my first sock on DPNs with your pattern and I’m now working on Two at a time on a magic loop. The pattern for this sock was on the sock yarn I bought at Michaels with a coupon. So I’m hoping I will be able to convert the pattern on my own.
   Thanks for your great videos.

2. beautiful sweater, but I’m curious if you have a pattern for that beautiful scarf you’re wearing?!

3. Please advise what a hank consists of…

4. Hi Robin – sorry for causing confusion. A “hank” is just a name for a unit of yarn, depending on the way the yarn is wound for sale. It’s like “skein” or “ball”. You can watch this video for more info:
   https://verypink.com/2010/12/21/skein-ball-hank-cake/

   S t a c i

5. Beautiful pattern Staci. Hope to get started on it after the holidays (too many projects lined up for the time being!). What size pin did you use-they come in 2 sizes on the Feral Strumpet website?

6. HI Mary – I think you can probably get away with saying “the same size as the one on Staci’s sweater”, haha. Or you can ask for one 4cm in diameter, which is the size of the one I chose.
   🙂
   S t a c i

7. Hi there,

   I have a bunch of Debbie Bliss Aran that I was going to use for a different pattern. But I LOVE the idea of doing this! Is there an easy way to adjust the gauge and use what I already have. I get 4.5 stitches per inch using 8s, fyi.

   Cheers,

   Kay

8. Kay – you need to go up at least one needle size to match the gauge for the pattern. You’re going to need to knit another swatch!
   🙂
   S t a c i

9. I will start that swatch right away! Thanks much.

   Kay

10. What if im allergic to wool

11. Kayla – there are books and online articles for knitters who are allergic to wool, complete with yarn suggestions. I suggest you do a google search – good info to be had!

    S t a c i

12. Thanks to Feral Strumpet for introducing me to your Web site. Really great stuff, and I intend to buy that cardi pattern, since I already have the Feral S. brooch. Thanks for your videos, for sure!

13. Maybe this is a bad question?

    I have some wonderful yarn for this sweater, but it is worsted weight — could I use that?????

14. Jane – you can probably hold the yarn double-stranded to get the correct gauge. Good luck!

    S t a c i

15. Great web site I love your videos

16. Had a problem with my computer. Can you resend me the pattern for the three rectangangles, two triangles sweater jacket. Thank you for your help.

17. Would love to see you offer a pattern for hooded jacket in different sizes for the kids. one that is as easy as this jacket looks”

18. The sweater is beautiful. I live in Florida so wool is too warm. Would this pattern work in a cotton yarn?

19. Kathleen – I address this in the video. There may be a cotton yarn out there that is lightweight enough to work for this pattern, but cotton yarns are (in my experience) too heavy. Using cotton may cause the sweater to have too much weight, and hang unflatteringly.

    I can tell you this – I live in Austin, Texas, and I’ve found plenty of days this winter where this sweater has served me as a winter coat. Plus, wool breathes well, and I haven’t had the problem of being too warm – even indoors.

    S t a c i

20. His Staci, I will be purchasing the sweater pattern and would like to pay it forward to Lind- Nov 27th @ 9:43 am. When I pay for my sweater can you forward a pattern to her as well. If so I will go in and pay for two as soon as I hear back from you.
    Thank you

21. Hi Staci,

    I really like your cardigan pattern. A year ago I would have purchased the pattern only to discover that the yarn I was going to use was not the correct weight. Then I would have knitted it anyway and half-way through ripped out the entire thing and thrown it in a box that I would find five months later wondering what it was.

    I have worsted, hard-twist purchased specifically for a cardigan for one of my sisters. My problem, obviously, is love the yarn, love the pattern. As much as I hate to admit it, I am a very very slow knitter (I also seem to go into a coma when knitting – at times- which involves lots of frogging) so have never knit a swatch because it would honestly take me a few hours. I wish this email was private, I’m not proud of my v e r y s l o w knitting, especially just doing simple knitting.

    OK, there have been times that my speed picks up, but no rhyme or reason. I also knit very loosely. On average I have to decrease two needle sizes to produce the correct size hat or scarf.

    The label on my yarn says five stitches per inch. I have never been able to find the answer to the following question: If I use a smaller wt yarn for a garment, which would require ??larger?? size needles? would the number of stitches in the pattern be affected? I’m having memory problems (hopefully from some of my meds), but I do know that if a gauge (which I don’t do, but have read about a lot) is too large you should use a smaller needle and vice versa. What I can’t wrap my brain around is this: if the pattern calls for size five needles, but your swatch indicates you need to use larger needles, won’t the fabric produced by the larger needles have a different quality, feel, etc then if knitted by the initially called for needle?

    Could be I knit too slow because I’m always trying to find answers to questions that have no answer;-)

    I see you live in Austin. Lucky you, great insight knitting a sweater just prior to our latest ‘winter’ storm. I grew up around Chicago/Wisconsin, but for some reason cold in TX seems really COLD.

    I apologize for the long tale, but hopefully if you have the time to answer my question I can get started on one of the sweaters for one of my sisters;-) Yep, lots of worsted, but of course the pattern I “like” doesn’t “like” worsted;-)

    Happy Holidays. Hopefully I will be purchasing your pattern.

    Thank you so much.

    Maureen Martinek
    San Antonio, TX

22. Hi Maureen – this pattern is written for bulky yarn. If you want to use worsted, your best bet is to hold the yarn double-stranded when you “swatch a pocket”. Not swatching is not an option. Especially if you are choosing to use a different weight of yarn!

    Here is the key to getting the correct gauge – if you have too many stitches per inch, you need to go UP a needle size, to make each stitch bigger, so fewer stitches fit in an inch. If you are getting too few stitches per inch, you need to go DOWN a needle size, so that you get more stitches per inch.

    This sweater uses pretty big needles, so the knitting goes pretty quickly – even for slow knitters. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!
    S t a c i

23. Hi Staci, I am very excited to make my first sweater using this pattern! I have one question though, the pattern uses bust sizes 40-44 and I am a bust size 42. I decided to go up and use the stitch count for the 44 since I figured bigger is better, but then I wondered how the sweater actually fits. I know the front pieces overlap, but does the sweater its self fit bigger or smaller. I would like mine to be a bit more form fitting vs.baggy. It would be very helpful to get your opinion. Thanks!

24. I have completed my swatch pockets on gauge. I really love the pattern stitch. So simple yet very attractive.

    Now I am about to tackle the back rectangle. I am wondering about optimal length. I am just over 5 ft tall so I know I will need to modify the pattern length to get the proper proportion . Since you are sitting down in the pattern photo, I don’t have a clear sense of the intended length. Where should the sweater fall in relaxation to the hip bone?

25. Hi Diane – that is a good question, and you’re right, I don’t have a photo of me standing in the jacket!

    I made mine to hit me at about 5″ below the fullest part of my hips. I knew I would like this proportion, because I have a coat that same length, and I measured the coat and decided to make the sweater jacket the same length. You can make the jacket any length you like, and measuring something you already own and like is a good starting place.

    Hope that helps!
    S t a c i

26. Nicole – then you should probably go with the smaller size. This sweater has a lot of “positive ease” built in, and it is made to be a loose fit. I did it with the idea that I would be layering other clothes under it, but I find that I like the fit even if I’m just wearing a tshirt. If you prefer it to be a little more fitted, the smaller size will do you well.
    🙂
    S t a c i

27. Possibly a stupid question but I’ll ask anyway…I have just knit my very first swatch I.e. The pocket! (Although it is wider than it is high…I bound off at 5.5 inches but the width (my cast on 27 stitches) measures about 7 inches….how do I rectify this? Do I soak in warm water, squeeze out extra water and pin it on a board to dry? Or just set it out to dry but not pin? This is my first big project and I want to get it right.

28. Cindy – the pocket isn’t a perfect square, unless you want to make it that way. Seven inches wide is just about right, but you need to wash and block your swatch before you check the gauge. Follow the directions on the yarn label for washing and drying. If you used the same yarn that I used in the pattern, you will hand wash and set out flat to dry. Once the pocket-swatch is dry, then you can measure stitches per inch. Here is a photo tutorial for washing and blocking (non-superwash) wool, like I used in my sample sweater: https://verypink.com/2010/07/27/blocking-not-a-video/

    Good luck! I hope you love making and wearing the sweater!
    S t a c i

29. Good morning….I am using the yarn called for in the pattern. I have washed, blocked and dried flat my swatch. I am measuring a full 3 stitches and all but an eighth of an inch of a stitch/inch. Should I go down a needle size and re-swatch or am I close enough to gauge? I love this yarn by the way!

30. Hi Cindy – I hope I’m understanding what you said…over three inches, you are only 1/8th of an inch off in gauge? If that is so, you’re close enough! Enjoy!
    🙂
    S t a c i

31. Staci-This is a elegently simple sweater. My mother has requested a pattern for a vest & the texture of this mock rib is right up her alley. I see it is a drop shoulder. In your opinion, would there be any mods that could be made in removing the sleeves to make it a vest? About how far down the arm does the drop shoulder fall? I realize the drop shoulder could come too far down the arm to make an attractive vest. Thank you very much for your design insight.

32. Hi Lauren – yeah…this pattern wouldn’t really translate well into a vest. You can seam the armholes as tightly as you like, but major mods would be required for all of the pieces to make it fit properly at the shoulders. It can be done, if you’re up for a challenge!

    S t a c i

33. Staci,
    Love this jacket, ,when you say front is wider than half the back,
    approx by how much…I am not sure of my size…

34. Please trust the sizing listed here on my website, as well as in the pattern. The actual measurements of the sweater, and the measurements of the wearer, are both listed.

    S t a c i

35. Cindy and Staci ~ I had the EXACT same problem with the pocket that Cindy did with the wider width and not as tall as a pocket should be??? Pockets that I have measured are around 7 inches in height (old sweater from my Mom) and this is only 5.5 inches according to the pattern and bind off??? Is that a mistake in gauge or what I AM doing wrong as Cindy is also? My sweater turned out HUGE and I did the blocking of the pocket and realized the pocket looked odd. Disappointed in my outcome but I suppose my Mom can wear this as she is larger than I am …

36. Janice – ultimately in this pattern, row gauge doesn’t really matter very much. I give instructions for exact stitch count, but when it comes to lengths, I give inches, not rows. (The only part of the pattern where row gauge matters a bit is in the sleeves…but I give instructions for customizing the sleeves for a perfect fit.)

    The pocket should be wider than it is tall – about 7″ wide and 5.5″ tall.

    If you got the correct gauge, I don’t know how you got the results you did…if you were getting 4 stitches to the inch after blocking, the row gauge wouldn’t have mattered.

    S t a c i

37. I’m thrilled to have found you on YouTube and be linked to your site. I have watched a couple videos and see a ton more here that I need to check. I am teaching myself to knit through sites like yours and am interested in trying this pattern soon. I see that you listed how many hanks of yarn to buy for each size (*thank you!*), my question is how do you figure that out? I didn’t see a video tutorial on your site, but maybe I missed that. =) I’m sure there is a standard math technique to figure out how much yarn to buy for any project and I’d love to know how to do that. No one in my family knits and I don’t know anyone that I can work with or show me so sites like yours are gold for people like me. Thanks for all the time you’ve put into this – I know I will benefit from it! =) Also – thanks for all the links to what you are talking about. I have been told wool is the best to knit with, but until I followed your link today and saw that it can sell for $4.99 each I figured I would never get to try it. What I’ve seen has been over the top EXPENSIVE which doesn’t work for our single income situation.

38. Yes, there is a formula for figuring out how much yarn is needed for any given size, but if you’re knitting a pattern knit by a designer, your best bet is to follow what they’ve allotted for yarn amounts. It isn’t really a straightforward formula, and I’m afraid I can’t really explain the whole process here (if you’re asking because you’re thinking of designing your own sweater).

    Thank you for the note! Patterns always tell you how much yarn you’ll need, it’s a standard part of any pattern.

    S t a c i

39. I love the pattern!! I’m thinking I like the wrong side of the pattern than the right side 🙂

40. Thanks for responding so quickly. I ended up finding a general way to calculate this if you are using a substitute yarn that may have a different yardage amount. I eventually do plan to create my own patterns after I get some basics down and I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out as I see how close I am to being “on” with the knitting gauges in a few other projects first. I have crocheted for years, but am ready for new challenges and learning new stitches. =)

    Another quick question – I see the PDF version of your pattern links to videos, does your Amazon ebook version also link you to the same videos?

41. Hello Staci !
    I’d like to start this sweater but I am very allergic to wool. Can I use acrylic yarn instead ? I’m scared that the sweater won’t be as nice as your’s. Forgive me if I make spelling mistakes, I’m French. 🙂

42. Amanda – acrylic yarns vary dramatically in their quality. If you find an acrylic yarn you like, you can always “swatch a pocket” and see how it knits up.

    S t a c i

43. Thanks a lot for responding all questions !
    I love your videos, they are really well explained even for me who’s french I understand quite well what’s going on in every pattern. 🙂
    I am going to knit this pocket right now ! Thanks ! 🙂

44. Stacie, loved your Russian join for yarn. I am in process of making this sweater and am wondering if you could “wet block” the pieces as you finish them rather than steam blocking, sewing together then wet blocking? Thanks really enjoy your Wed. Lessons. Jo Ann. P.S. Thanks for asking this question rather than copying those crazy letters some have to see if you are a human. :-). I can never get those right.

45. Hi Jo Ann – you can wet block before you seam, but I recommend doing it the way I describe. It’s good to wet block when the whole sweater is finished so that the seams benefit from the wet block as well.

    S t a c i

46. Stacie, thank you for such great tutorials! I have a question… I did my swatch last night, and it came out a perfect 5.5 x 7 inches…. one problem I have six stitches per inch counting vertical, and five counting horizontal. Would you recommend going up a needle size even though the swatch measured 5.5 and 7 perfectly…. Your help would be so greatly appreciated.

47. Hmm…that seems impossible. If you cast-on 27 stitches, and your piece is 7″ wide, you should be getting just 4 stitches per inch.

    I would go with the stitches-per-inch measurement for gauge, and not the pocket size. That is the more accurate measurement.

    S t a c i

48. I love, this pattern! This will be my first stab at a sweater.
    I have 10 skein of chunky Cascade totalling 1420 yards. My bust is 43 inches. Do you think I can squeak by with the 10 skeins or should I buy one more to make the XL size?

    Now I know why they say never buy yarn in advance of the pattern!

49. Hi Sharon – very risky! That is about a hundred yards less than the pattern calls for…it could work out fine, or it could be shy of what you need. You could give it a try, and knit both sleeves at the same time. Then, if you are a little short, the sleeves will at least be the same length, possibly 3/4 or 7/8 length.

    S t a c i

50. Thank You Staci,

    As I was typing my question, I was saying to myself for 5 dollars why take the risk.

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