Has anyone knitted the Rikke Bloom sweater? If so, any tips gratefully received before I start out.
I was considering increasing the length and tapering the arms.
That’s a stunning sweater and a fascinating project.
There aren’t any good notes from the project knitters but as long as you can maintain good tension across the colorwork, it’ll work out well. Tight tension leading to puckering is a killer on any such project.
Decide on the size you’re going to make considering the large amount of positive ease in this pattern. Have you made a color selection yet?
1 Like
Here’s my colour selection. I’m wary of not catching up the floating threads - never had a good experience here. I try to catch every 1-2 stitches. The pattern calls for leave them to float, but when I do that my tension is irregular. May have to catch those threads and hope I don’t ruin the look.
1 Like
Beautiful colors for this sweater. I’ve added it to my favorites for 2026.
Practice really does help to get the tension right. (Who knew?) You probably don’t need to catch floats so frequently but if it helps with tension then go right ahead. I like this method which really does prevent little blips of color showing through at the catch.
2 Likes
Could you knit it inside out? That way, the floats would have a greater distance to travel and would be less likely to pull tight.
1 Like
Lovely colours you’ve chosen. I would also taper the sleeves, some people love a wide sleeve, not me. I like very long sleeves but not wide. I also like them to push up and stay up when needed too. Personal preference.
I always catch floats every 2 or 3 sts too. I just prefer to work that way, after lots and lots and lots of swatching and frogging I’ve decided I just like it. I can knit soooooo much faster which feels more comfortable and fluid for me so the process is enjoyable. I also prefer the inside of the sweater, I actually love how the inside looks and feels with those frequent floats. Just do what you’re happy with, the knitting police are unlikely to come round to check.
3 Likes
When doing alternating blocks of 4 different colours. What’s the view on : carrying the spare threads & catching them every few rows or cut & rejoin when needed?
It depends on how many rows the colors need to be carried up. The fewest ends the better but carrying up for more than 4 to maybe 6 rows (depending on gauge) seems like too many. It’s nice to have the inside of a project look neat and pretty too.
On this I would cut them rather than carry up. There’s a long way to go between contrast A being used the first time and contrast A being used again. You might consider weaving in as you go for the ends or carrying some/all of the ends some distance so that the weaving in isn’t all in the same place at one side as that area might get a bit too full of ends.