I knit the Penguono by Stephen West and it turned out even more amazing than I imagined it could. Keep reading for the modifications I planned, the yarn I used, and my thoughts on the pattern in my Penguono Knitting Experience:
I recently knit the Pengweeno jacket for my niece and it was so much fun to make. I was able to use up a lot of left over yarn from other projects, and it turned out super cute.
The Penguono by Stephen West is the adult version of the Pengweeno, and I thought it would be fun to knit this jacket for myself. I knit the Marled Magic Sweater last year and I loved making it, so I was excited to start another WestKnits sweater.
I started planning what I would want my Penguono to look like, and I ordered the most gorgeous yarn from @sweetnesting to be my main palette. I wanted to challenge myself this year to make my own pattern, so as a step toward that, I planned a lot of fun modifications for my Penguono:
PENGUONO MODIFICATION PLAN
Welts on the Shoulders
The Penguono has three large welts on either side of the back panel, and I think they look so cool. I really wanted to try to incorporate more welts somewhere in the sweater.
I saw some textured Penguono samples that gave me the idea to add welts to the shoulders for a more structured look — like oldschool Brandon Flowers from The Killers vibes.
Then, I actually found a Stephen West sweater with welts on the shoulders and knew this was exactly what I wanted to create!
Front Panel Slip Stitches
I knit the Fantastitch shawl (my first shawl ever), and I learned this really neat slip stitch technique. I thought it would be fun to switch up some of the garter stitches in the Penguono, and add cute little pops of color.
Long Sleeves with Texture
The Penguono has short sleeves with seed stitch on top and an I-cord bind off. I thought it would look cool to make the sleeves long with honeycomb brioche on the top, down the length of the arms.
I first knit honeycomb brioche in my Favo Sweater and I love how it looks with its layered, plush design.
Two-Color Brioche Border
This modification is actually already an option in the pattern. I knew I definitely wanted to use some two-color brioche and make my sweater a little more special.
When I knit my Marled Magic sweater, I modified the pattern’s one-color brioche to be two-color brioche and I thought it looked so good.
Attached Hood
The shawl collar on the Penguono isn’t my favorite. I don’t hate it, but I was looking for a way that I could try to jazz it up. I saw the Lisse Jacket by Kindred Red, and I was in love with the hood!
The entire jacket is beautiful and is double knit, so the inside has a different color/texture than the outside. I’d never tried double knitting, but I wanted to try to add a Lisse Jacket-type hood to my Penguono.
PENGUONO
The Penguono is a boxy, kimono style jacket knit in mostly garter stitch. It starts with the back panel knit in seed stitch, and three statement welts are added to each side. Then you pick up and knit to build out the sides and front panels. A shoulder piece is seamed in to connect the front and back panels. Then you knit out the sleeves, add a collar, and outline it all in an I-cord bind off.
The pattern only gives one set of instructions, and you achieve the different sizes by increasing your gauge. I didn’t do a gauge swatch, but I used fingering held double and US size 7 needles throughout for a Medium size.
I use my iPad to work all my patterns, so it was really convenient to write down my modification plan notes. It helped that I had basically knit this exact pattern before with the Pengweeno, so I knew what to expect and could plan better.
Yarn
As I mentioned, I used up a ton of my left over yarn when I knit my niece’s Pengweeno. I loved giving a purpose to all the small quantities I was holding onto. The Penguono is also meant to be a stash buster, but I had a vision for how I wanted mine to be and my “stash” at the time wasn’t going to cut it.
I ordered a special palette from @sweetnesting and I love what she created. Suddenly, I had a stash I was in love with and couldn’t wait to start creating with.
I also had yarn from Hello Stella and La Bien Aimee to supplement my Penguono when I wanted a pop of texture or rainbow accent.
I was so happy with all my beautiful yarn! Once I got it all wound up and finished my Fantastitch, I was ready to cast on my Penguono.
Casting On
The Penguono uses a provisional cast on, which I’d only used once before (in my niece’s Pengweeno). It took me a while to get the hang of using a crochet hook again, but I eventually got a little groove going. I used a contrasting color from what I would start actually knitting with to help me when it came time to remove it.
Back Panel
The back panel is knit in seed stitch. I really enjoyed holding fingering double and marling the colors. I tried to create a sunset fade with the colors and I think I achieved it.
All of the colors were so pretty on their own, and marling them just surprised me with all the fun and beautiful color combinations.
I really liked adding a pop of Kumo for some texture here and there. ♡♡♡
Welts
The welts are so much fun. I love how they give a 3d texture to the jacket and give it a more structured look. I used only Hello Stella yarn for a strong contrast to the speckles and marled seed stitch. I love the yellow, Gold Rush, color so much.
The welt stitches are picked up from the seed stitch panel. I love how there is minimal seaming with the Penguono; everything just builds off of a previous step.
To help keep the welts straight and pick up the lower stitch easier, I used a separate needle to pick up the stitches. So, when I knit it together with the live stitch, it was like doing a three-needle bind off.
Right Side + Front Panels
I liked working the side panels and creating a new marling color story. Each section on the Penguono went by pretty quickly. I love how each section builds off of a previous one.
On the right side, I knit a warmer orange and pink palette with a purple center panel. Then, I carried that to neon coral and started my slip stitch modification for the front panel.
I insert a life line before starting the front panel decreases which came in handy later when blocking the front panels, and seaming the shoulder panels.
I love how this turned out. It reminds me of brioche from far away, but from close up you can see the slipped stitches. I did mostly oranges for the main color, and used blues and purple for the slip stitch pops.
Left Side + Front Panels
Once the right side is complete, you move back to the left side and basically mirror everything. I decided to make my side panels mostly blues and purples with some green, and a fuchsia panel in the center.
Pattern Error
I did notice an error in the pattern when starting the Left Front (row 27). It says to cast on and then “k37, sl1 wyif”, but that instruction would leave you in the middle of the row. I thought I was just doing the co incorrectly or something because I had no issues when I knit the Pengweeno.
But I went to the Pengweeno pattern and it made perfect sense. The stitch count in the Penguono is incorrect, it should say “k65, sl1 wyif”. When I knit it that way, it obviously made sense and that’s also what the Pengweeno pattern states (adjusted for the stitch count). I also downloaded the Penguono pattern in other languages, and they confirm the “k65” way.
However, even though this seems like the obvious fix, there is errata on the Ravelry page that specifically “corrects” the pattern to be the k37 way. 🙃
Front Panel
For my left front panel, I used mostly pinks for the main color and purple for the slip stitches.
I wasn’t able to mirror the slip stitch modification exactly to what I had done on the right side, but I like how it turned out. Even though I was using a technique I’d learned from the Fantastitch, I still had to adapt it to the Penguono stitch counts and the decreases. I thought it looked a little weird at first, but any stitch repeated in the same way can look like an on-purpose pattern.
Blocking the Front Panels
Once my front panels on both sides were complete, I could see that my modifications were affecting the length. My front panels were noticeably shorter than the center back panel. I blocked the front panels on their own to stretch them out to better match the back panel’s height.
I had insert a life line before I started the front panel decreases which helped me to maintain symmetry when blocking. I love having actual blocking mats — my garments can dry more quickly and I can shape the fabric much easier.
Stitches On Hold
Because this jacket is built out in sections, there are a lot of times where the pattern has you put your live stitches on hold. With the front panels, I just left my live stitches on shorter cables from my interchangeable needles. I use the chiaogoo set and I love them. You can use the stoppers to secure the cable, or just use a safety pin.
Shoulder Welts
To figure out how many welts I’d need for my modification, I first knit a shoulder section as written in the pattern to get the sizing. Then I started a separate shoulder section with welts in a rainbow pattern.
I ended up needing 12 welts to equal the pattern swatch, so I just mirrored my rainbow to complete the section. I love how they turned out and they were really quick to knit.
Left Shoulder + Sleeve
I seamed in the shoulder section, leaving the live stitches on the arm side. Then, as I picked up stitches for the arm, I closed the last welt on the shoulder.
I knit the pattern as written and insert a lifeline before Row 29. I knit Rows 29 and 30 as written and then started my honeycomb brioche stitch.
Honeycomb Brioche
It was really fun to knit honeycomb brioche again. I had kind of forgotten what the k2tog looked like since knitting my Favo Sweater. It’s always hard to get the first couple of rows started and finding the correct stitch. I had to rip back to my lifeline because I could tell I had done something wrong, but once I got into the groove, it was fun and easy.
I think the honeycomb brioche looks so good. I loved it in my Favo Sweater and I love it in my Penguono. I think this may be my favorite stitch. I faded the colors of the sleeve from orange to pink to purple and I love how pretty these colors are. If you are having trouble with honeycomb brioche or making decreases, keep reading for my notes on how I did it.
I knit the under panel in a rainbow, and knit a little bit at a time as the sleeve grew. I love the rainbow accent pop underneath. I shared this picture in my newsletter I was so excited about how it was coming along.
When I finished the honeycomb brioche, I did a K1/P1 ribbing for the cuff. I wanted to do an i-cord bind off, but I wasn’t sure what color I wanted. I left the cuff on my shorties until I was ready to do the bind off.
Before I started the next sleeve, I used a darning needle to weave in all my ends, and I removed almost all of the life lines on the left side. I like to try and weave in the ends as I go or during the middle of a project so it’s not so much work to do at the end.
Right Shoulder + Sleeve
Honeycomb Brioche
I had written some notes as I worked the left sleeve, and I wanted to try and mirror it on the right sleeve. I had alternated between a normal “block” (rows 1-4) of the honeycomb brioche, and a decrease block in some sections, so I wanted to keep the symmetry for both sleeves.
I had a hard time knitting the sleeves on my Favo Sweater because the honeycomb brioche was in the round and with increases. The increases seemed to ruin the pattern, but no one had mentioned it in their Ravelry notes. I was still newer to knitting, so I thought it could just have been my inexperience.
Here’s how I figured out the honeycomb brioche and a 4-stitch decrease that worked really well; I hope it helps you if you try honeycomb brioche in a Penguono or another project:
Honeycomb Brioche Stitch
I’ve seen a few ways to knit the honeycomb brioche stitch, but this is the way I learned and it seems the easiest. Here is what I knit in my Penguono:
NORMAL BLOCK
With an even number of stitches,
(RS) Row 1: K1, *K1, K1B*, Sl1 wyif
(WS) Row 2: K1, *K2tog, K1*, Sl1 wyif
(RS) Row 3: K1, *K1B, K1*, Sl1 wyif
(WS) Row 4: K1, *K1, K2tog*, Sl1 wyif
Note: these “K2tog” are not the normal “knit two together”; instead, you are knitting the live stitch together with the loop that was created from the previous row’s “K1B” (knit one below).
This video is good at showing exactly what you need to do for a normal block of honeycomb brioche:
Honeycomb Brioche Decreases
I couldn’t find any information about decreasing the honeycomb brioche stitch, so I figured out a way on my own. I’m really happy because this decrease block doesn’t break the pattern at all. Each decrease block reduces the honeycomb brioche by 4 stitches.
DECREASE BLOCK
(RS) Row 1: K1, normal K2TOG, *K1, K1B*, Sl1 wyif
(WS) Row 2: K1, *K2tog, K1* until last 4 sts, K2tog, normal K2TOG, Sl1 wyif
(RS) Row 3: K1, *K1B, K1* until last 5 sts, K1B, normal K2TOG, K1, Sl1 wyif
(WS) Row 4: K1, normal K2TOG, *K2tog, K1* until last 2 sts, K2tog, Sl1 wyif
Note: “normal K2TOG” is the normal “knit two together” that is v common, and the “K2tog” is the special way as written above.
I love how the sleeves turned out and having that rainbow underarm peek through. I kept the cuff stitches on the cable until I decided on a color for the I-cord bind off.
Border 1 | Two-Color Brioche
The pattern gives the option to knit Border 1 in garter stitch or in a two-color brioche. I really like the look of brioche and I think it’s a lot of fun to knit, so that’s the option I chose. I’ve heard that it’s better to go down a needle size when switching to brioche, but I stayed at a US 7 throughout.
I removed the provisional cast on and insert a lifeline as I picked up the stitches along the back. I didn’t want to drop any stitches in case something went wrong with the brioche.
Stephen West has this video which was a really nice refresher since that last time I knit brioche in my Briochevron Blanket:
I used a dark contrast color in the background (fingering and lace held double) with a lighter main color in the foreground to pop.
I knit 5 repeats, and then followed the final MC (RS) instructions. I liked the length already and didn’t want the brioche to get too long and take away from the rest of the sweater.
Border 2 | Double Knit
Like I mentioned, I wanted to try and replicate a similar hood as the Lisse Jacket. I spent a lot of time — too much time — trying to figure out how I could make it work. I decided that the hood wasn’t going to happen for me, but that I could at least use the double knitting technique to create the collar.
Double knitting is really easy; I watched this video to learn the process.
I double knit my shawl collar with blues on the under side and a marled pink with a pink Kumo lace held together on the outside. Having a secret pop of blues inside makes it extra special.
I only did four of the repeats because I liked where the welts sat on my shoulders, and I didn’t want the welts on the back to start slouching. Even though I wasn’t able to make the hood modification I’d planned, I’m really happy with the double knit collar.
Finishing
Once all of the knitting was complete, I needed to figure out a color for my I-cord bind off. I had held the stitches on the cuffs so I could pick a color that would work all over, and I finally decided on the purple from Hello Stella, Full Moon.
It was much easier to pick up all the stitches for the I-cord since my held stitches were already on a cable. I just moved my needle over to the other cord, and knit as usual. If you don’t have an interchangeable needle set, definitely check out the chiaogoo ones.
I knit the I-cord over two days and managed to keep the tension pretty loose. I’m really happy with how the purple tied everything together.
Then, I removed all my lifelines and tucked in the rest of the ends. I don’t think I’ll do any blocking because I really like the length and the fit.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I am extremely happy with my Penguono. The colors are amazing, I love the look and the fit. I enjoyed the pattern and making my own modifications.
The Penguono, as written, is knit in mostly garter stitch which makes it a really fast + easy knit, but it also makes it a great canvas for any stitch modifications. I really enjoyed thinking about what changes I wanted to make and getting to be creative with my favorite techniques.
Each hand knit is one of a kind, but I feel like my Penguono is truly special. It’s definitely my dream sweater and I am so happy with how it turned out.
Penguono Pattern Rating
Layout = ★★★★★
Organization = ★★★★★
Clarity = ★★★★★
Value = ★★★★★
Final Product = ★★★★★
The Penguono pattern is well written and has a lot of pictures to help you understand where to pick up stitches and how to plan for your color changes. The pattern encourages you to be creative with colors, yarn weights, techniques, and designs. There are a lot of different photo shoot pictures in the pattern which can help give you inspiration for all the things you can do with your Penguono.
Check out my Ravelry project page for more pictures of my Penguono, and a look at my other completed projects.
