Issues with button-closed shoulder on fair-isle knitted sweater

Dear fellow knitters. I started working on a traditional fair-isle knitted fisherman’s jumper a long while back. You helped me with a different issue then which I have already forgotten because it’s been so long. Today I’m back with more struggles!
I have finished the body of the sweater and am working on the sleeves. The sweater will have quite a tight neck and has a button-closed left shoulder to be able to put it on and take it off. This shoulder is the problem of today. It consists of two flaps. The front flap has three buttonholes and the back flap will have three buttons. Both flaps had a section which had to be folded over to form the double-layered flap. The flap with the button holes therefore had two sections with three button-holes which, folded over, formed the double-layered flap with buttonholes through each layer which have to line up and be sown over (I added a bunch of pictures for clarity because it sounds a little vague).
I followed the instructions exactly but it just doesn’t seem right. There are several sub-problems:

  • In the extra length length of each flap, I had to purl one row so it could be folded over in a neat line. The issue is that, when I fold the front flap over and line up the buttonholes, the purl row is not in the middle and therefore doesn’t seem to serve a purpose anymore.
  • Everything becomes very bulky because there are two flaps which are both double-layered. And if the flaps are buttoned in the end, they are laying on top of each other, making it 4 layers on the left shoulder. I highly doubt it will look nice.
  • When I line up both flaps to see where the buttons should go, I feel like the back flap isn’t long enough and the front flap has to be dragged way further to the back to be able to reach the hypothetical buttons. It doesn’t line up nicely with the small part near the armhole. The problem seems to be with the front flap, the buttonholes seem to be too far down.
  • The instructions mention that I have to “catch down” the long edge of both flaps to create this double-layered situation but I have no idea what “catching down” means and now I’m left with these stitches on stitch holders at the end of both my flaps

I think there is something wrong with the pattern/ instructions but I can’t figure out what it is. If anyone sees what it is or has advise on what would look the best in the end: Please let me know! I’m more than happy to take out the stitches I currently have for the left shoulder and start that part over because I already spent so much time on this sweater, I really want it to look it’s best.

Perhaps I should only make a very small part of both flaps double-layered to avoid bulkiness?
Are double-layered buttonholes a necessity?
Should I re-knit the buttonholes to get them higher and closer to the shoulder seem?
What to do about the “cathing down”?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this message and look at the pictures. It is highly appreciated and I am very thankful. <3

Schermafbeelding 2025-01-04 om 18.23.27

2 Likes

You’ve made fantastic progress, your knitting looks fabulous.
I’ve done a folded over button band and sewn it down so the holes aligned but this is too tricky for me to answer. I agree it sounds a bit bulky having 4 layers of fabric, have you looked at finished pictures of the sweater, perhaps on ravelry?

What was the name of the sweater and designer?
It would be helpful to see the pic or a link.

A bit off topic, but I really like the look of the seater you’re wearing did you make that, what pattern is it?

Wow, what a beautiful pattern and sweater! You’ve really worked this so nicely.

Is the neckband ribbed for the sweater? I would change the shoulder closure to ribbing and work a single layer for both button band and buttonhole band. You’ll have to increase the sts because of the way the ribbing will pull in the knit fabric so it will take a bit of fiddling. Four layers is too much and seems especially unnecessary on the button band. Even if the neckband is doubled over, the shoulders bands don’t need to be the same.
The button band and buttonhole band should completely overlap so if the buttonholes seem misplaced, yes, re-knit the buttonholes so that they match to where the buttons will be.
“Catching down” means to seam the cast off edge to the base of the flap to create the double fabric. It’s a kind of a hem.

Love to know the pattern name too.

1 Like

Thank you so much!
The pattern is “Fisherman’s Jumper” by Mati Ventrillon from his book “Knitting from Fair-Isle”.
I can’t find a lot of pictures, but I found one on Ravalry that looks exactly like my sweater haha https://www.ravelry.com/projects/EvaL8/fishermans-sweater
image
This lady seems to have done a double layer in the neck that I can’t find in the pattern. Looks really neat!

The cardi I’m wearing is not me-made unfortunately :wink: I found it at a second-hand market.

1 Like

Thanks a bunch! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
The pattern mentions ribbing in the neckband but I can’t really see it in the finished sweater.



Thanks a lot for explaining the “catching down”! I guessed that had to be it but always good to know for sure.
I might do a ribbed shoulder closure! That’s a good idea

1 Like

I’ve done that kind of closure on sweaters and it works. It looks like knitters winged it on the neckband and even the closure. I can see a rather short band of black rib on the lobster or fisherman in one of your photos.
Thanks for the pattern information. It’s stunning as is your work. (And what a second hand find too.)

Great pics, thanks. What a find in a second hand place, you must have high end donors where you live!

I can see a band of black around the neck, perhaps rib which is folded to the inside and sewn down to help the neck band pull in towards the neck for added wind protection. The guy with the lobster pot, his sweater has colourwork in the button band and just plain black for the fold over.

Looks like you’ll have some decisions to make with the neck.

There are some notes that might be helpful on this project:
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/SailingWool/fishermans-sweater

And I see that one person commented that the button opening isn’t actually needed…I guess they can get it over their head without it? At least one project showed the neckline fairly open, but if yours is too tight, buttons it is.

Kind of odd that more people didn’t take pics of the button closure, as that’s a fairly unusual feature.

Yes it seems like everyone has made the pattern their own :wink:
I like the folded-over neckband though. I might try that. Definitely with a small band of black rib, that looks nice.
I think I want to go for a usable button-closure, it seems very cool. I just took out all the stitches for both the flaps and will improvise to make a better fit! I’ll first finish the other sleeve. I’ll send an update when I’m working on the neck!

And yes, very happy with the great second-hand offers in my city!

Thanks so much for all the sweet compliments, tips and tricks! I appreciate it a lot. <3

2 Likes