The Suzie Jumper
A step-by-step guide to knitting the heart-warming Suzie Jumper
Ever gotten halfway through a project and thought “Hang on, am I even doing this right?” We have 🙋♀️
That’s why we’ve created these step-by-step guides to walk you through the knitting process.
Even if you've never knitted before, we'll take you from zero to knitting hero in no time 🦸♀️
When it comes to knitting, practice makes perfect
Before we get started on the pattern we suggest you spend a bit of time learning the basic stitches you’ll need to complete your masterpiece.
The Suzie Jumper is a great project if you've knitted one or two cosy masterpieces before and it's an excellent introduction to knitting in the round. If you're a total beginner you'll want to be confident with the knit stitch and its friend the purl stitch before we start. We put the knit and purl stitches together to make a rib stitch and a stockinette stitch and a reverse stockinette stitch. You'll also want to get the hang of knitting in the round.
You can use the yarn that came in your kit to practice with. Once you've got these mastered you'll find the pattern a cinch!
Total beginner? 👩🏫
For a more comprehensive lesson on the basics of knitting visit our Learn How To Knit page.
Onto the Jumper!
⚡️What you'll need
Your kit comes with everything you'll need to make your masterpiece. In your kit you'll find;
- 12mm and 15mm circular needles
- 6 to 10 balls of Cardigang Chunky Merino Wool in your chosen colour 1 and colour 2
- Stitch markers
- A darning needle
- Made by me tag
You also want to have a pair of scissors handy.
📏 Sizing and measurements
You can make your Suzie Jumper in 5 sizes.
| SIZE |
MEASUREMENTS (laying flat) |
| 6-8 | 65cm wide x 47cm high |
| 10-12 | 70cm wide x 52cm high |
| 14-16 | 75cm wide x 58cm high |
| 18-20 | 80cm wide x 62cm high |
| 22-24 | 85cm wide x 62cm high |
Your pattern is read like this; 6-8 (10-12, 14-16, 18-20, 22-24). Make sure you're following the correct instructions for your size.
🥣 Test your tension
Before you start your project, make sure your tension (how tightly or loosely your knitting is) is juuuust right. We do this by knitting a “tension swatch”. It's a bit like goldilocks, if the tension is too tight, your piece will be too small, and if it's too loose it may not hold its shape and might be too big.
Gauge: If done correctly, your 10x10cm knitted swatch should be 7 stitches wide and 10 rows high when knitted in stockinette stitch on your 15mm needles.
To test this, jump on your needles - use the yarn and needles that came in your kit. Cast on around 12-14 stitches, then knit in stockinette stitch (knit all stitches in your first row, purl all stitches in the next - repeat) for around 12-14 rows. Then measure a 10x10cm square and count your stitches and rows within that space to make sure you're knitting at the correct tension.
If you've got more stitches or rows than the instructions say you should have, your knitting is a little too tight, and if you've got less your knitting is too loose. Adjust your tension by holding the yarn a little more tightly/loosely as you knit.
💡 We know knitting a tension swatch can seem like a bit of a drain, but it's really important because the difference of a few millimetres in your tension can lead to a finished piece this is quite different in size to what you intended.
🧶 Let's knit up a storm!
Time to get click-clacking and whip up your cosy jumper.
Remember learning a new skill can be a little challenging at first, and you’re bound to find yourself making some mistakes along the way. But as with learning anything, your brain and your hands slowly start to get the hang of it, muscle memory is created, and soon the thing you found tricky/daunting/scary is like second nature! 💪
BODY
We knit the body of our jumper in the round. Knitting in the round is where we use our circular needles and knit continuously in loops, rather than back and forth in rows (like a lot of beginner patterns do). Now don't worry! It's not anywhere near as hard as it sounds. When knitting in the round, you're always knitting on the "front" side of your work so you don't need to turn the piece to knit on the "back" side. Plus, you don't need to sew your piece together at the end!
Step 1:
Cast on the required number of stitches using your 12mm needles and colour 1.
Hot tip: your piece will 'grow' as you knit so don't be alarmed if it looks like you're knitting a baby's jumper to start with!
Join your stitches in the round before you begin knitting the rib stitch. If you need a refresher on joining your stitches watch the video below 👍
Step 2:
We’ll work the allocated rows of 1x1 rib stitch. To create a rib we knit 1 stitch, then purl the next, then knit the next, then purl the next and repeat.
💭 Make sure you’re moving your yarn tail from the back to the front of your work between each stitch (bring the yarn in through the middle of the stitches) to ensure the rib is executed correctly.
Use your stitch marker to mark the beginning of your loop and remember to move it to the new row once you've completed each loop.
Step 3:
Next, change to colour 2 and your 15mm needles.
💭 To switch to a different size needle we just hold the new needle (in this case the 10mm needle) in our right hand and the current needle with your work on it in your left hand. Then knit the stitches from your left needle onto the new needle in your right hand.
📹 Watch How To Change Colours
We're going to knit up the body. We knit all of these loops in knit stitch, so our little 'v's are facing out and the little bumps are on the inside of our jumper.
Tick off the circles to help you keep track of your progress.
Step 4-5:
Change back to colour 1 and we're going to knit a band in reverse stockinette stitch. We complete one loop in knit stitch - this is like our establishing row. Then we'll purl the next 6 rounds.
Step 6-9:
Continue following the pattern to knit up the body.
Step 10:
Okay, you've reached the point where we will split the body to make space for our arm holes. From this point onwards you'll be knitting this piece flat instead of in the round.
Because we're no longer knitting in the round, we have a 'front' and 'back' of the work. This means instead of knitting or purling every row, we need to knit one row and then purl the next - this maintains our stockinette/reverse stockinette stitch pattern.
While you knit up the back piece of your jumper, the stitches for the front piece will continue to hang out on your needles. We won't be knitting them until we've finished the back piece.
💭 You'll notice that the instructions for different sizes can differ, so just make sure you're paying special attention and following just the instructions for your size.
Step 11-15 (15, 18, 20, 20):
Follow the instructions in your pattern to knit up the back panel.
Once you've completed the allocated number of rows for your size, you'll cast off all stitches. When you've got just one stitch left on your right needle, simply cut your yarn from the ball (leaving about 20cm) and thread it back through your last stitch to secure it 🔥 Nice work!
Step 21:
Time to work up the front side of your body.
First, you'll need to re-attach your yarn. To do this make sure that you're holding your work so that the correct side is facing you. For size 6-8 that means you're starting on a purl stitch and with colour 1, for all other sizes you're starting on a knit stitch with colour 2.
To secure your yarn, tie a knot around the base of the stitch closest to the end of your left needle.
Continue knitting as the pattern instructs.
STEP 22-23:
We're going to start shaping the neckline now. To do this, we split the work into two shoulders and a space for the head hole.
In the first row of our neckline we're going to knit/purl the stitches for the first shoulder, then cast off some stitches in the middle (this creates our head hole) and then knit/purl to the end of the row to create the second shoulder.
SHAPING THE NECKLINE
The instructions for each size are slightly different from this point onwards so jump to the section for your size in your pattern.
Regardless of size, once you've done the first row for the neckline, including casting off stitches for the head hole, we'll knit the first shoulder up, then reattach our yarn and knit the second shoulder up.
We will be creating some shape around the head hole by knitting some stitches together on our knit rows. Depending on the shoulder you're knitting the technique will be slightly different and your pattern will specify which to use. The two techniques you'll need to know are shown in the videos below.
📹 Watch How to Slip Slip Knit
📹 Watch How To Knit Two Stitches Together
Once you've completed both shoulders that's the body of your jumper D.O.N.E! 🕺 Time for a happy dance!
SEWING TOGETHER
Grab your darning needle, we're going to sew our shoulders together now.
Line up your cast-off edges from the front and back piece making sure the outer edges are lined up correctly - otherwise, your head hole will be a little off-centre!
Then sew the cast-off edges together working from the edge of the piece and sewing inwards.
We use a technique called the invisible seam technique which gives us a nice neat join. In the video below, we cover two variations of the technique - you can pick which you prefer!
SLEEVES
We're getting close, I can see the finish line 🎢🙌
Now it’s time to knit our sleeves which we do from the top down and in the round. We're going to need two of these so follow this part twice! ✌️
Step 1:
Using your 15mm needles and colour 2 you're going to pick up stitches from around the edge of the raw armhole. Make sure your stitches are spaced evenly and count them to make sure you've got an even number. Then mark the beginning of your loop with a stitch marker.
Step 2-9:
Knit the allocated number of rows/loops in your two-colour stripe pattern. You'll be good at this by now!
Step 10-12:
We're going to decrease the number of stitches in the next 1/2 rows in order to create a nice balloon shape for our sleeve before we knit the cuff.
Follow the instructions in your pattern to knit two stitches together in places along these rows.
Step 4:
Next, we switch to using our 12mm needles to knit the cuff of our sleeves.
💭 To switch to a different size needle we just hold the new needle (in this case the 12mm needle) in our right hand and the current needle with your work on it in your left hand. Then knit the stitches from your left needle onto the new needle in your right hand.
We’ll work the allocated rows of 1x1 rib stitch in the round. It might feel a little tight now that we don't have as many stitches on our needles. The trick is to keep adjusting and moving the stitches around the loop as you knit.
Step 5:
Cast off your stitches loosely so that the hold for your wrist to fit through isn't too tight!
NECKLINE
Step 1-2:
Okay knitting QWEEN we're going to finish our gorgeous jumper with the neckline.
Using your 12mm needles and colour 1 you'll pick up an even number of stitches from around the neckline.
Mark the beginning of your loop and then knit 4 loops of 1x1 rib stitch.
📹 Watch How To Knit Your Neckline
Step 3:
Cast off your stitches. Now this part is critical... don't cast your stitches off too tightly or your cute little head won't fit through the head hold! We've been there and trust us, it's super frustrating!
FINISHING
The last thing we do for every piece is weave in the ends. That’s basically just tidying up the piece so all loose ends are trimmed down and tucked into the inside of your work. You use your darning need and weave those ends into the seams so they are nicely hidden away.
BLOCKING (OPTIONAL)
The final step in finishing a knitted piece is to block it. This step is optional and not all beginner knitters will block their work (we certainly didn't 🤣) but it can improve the overall shape and finish of your piece.
Blocking your knitting is a process where you wet your piece to set the finished size and even out the stitches.
You can choose to block your work before you seam it together, or after. If you block before seaming together you might get a better result with your seaming because the stitches will be more lined up.
Step 1
Soak your knit in cool water. You only need to let your piece sit in the water for a few minutes and make sure the full piece is completely wet.
Step 2
Remove your knit from the water and dry it off by rolling it in a towel. You want to get us much of the moisture out of the knit as possible at this point but be gentle! You don't want to stretch the knit.
Step 3
Transfer your damp knit to a flat surface to block it on. If you've got a blocking mat - great! otherwise a towel will work. The surface needs to be somewhere where your knit can lie flat and can stay there until it fully dries so that the shape sets properly. Make sure it's not a surface that can be easily damaged by having something wet sitting on it!
Step 4
Arrange your piece so the right side is facing up and the shape is as you'd like it. If you've got a measuring tape you can measure and adjust the piece so it's the correct size.
Step 5
Allow the knit to air dry - this can take a few days. You can also use a hair dryer to speed up the process, just use a light heat and don't concentrate the air in one spot.
D.O.N.E! You've finished your jumper, well done! Epic work 🤩 If this was your first-ever knitting project or one of many, we hope you had a blast click-clacking and making your masterpiece 💥❤️
In a bind and need a little more help?
Email us at stitchup@cardigang.com.au and we'll be able to help! Whether you're just starting out, or you've got a specific question or problem (dropped a stitch, no stress!), we're here to get you out of a bind.
