I knit the Single Malt sweater by Maxim Cyr, for the second time, as a gift for my husband. I love this pattern and making the Single Malt again, but I did have some struggles with gauge from not swatching. I’ve definitely learned my lesson now; keep reading for my experience knitting my British Aran Single Malt Sweater.
YARN
I had really wanted to use the recommended British Aran yarn from Dyed by Delz of Les Garçons with my first Single Malt, but the quantities I needed weren’t available. I kept checking back and was able to get 7 skeins of British Aran in the Abador’s Waters colorway, and I’ve been holding onto it for a while now.
I don’t like to hold on to skeins of yarn for too long, so I started looking for a project I could make. Initially, I wanted to make another Honeycomb Aran, but I didn’t have enough yardage. Since I discovered this yarn through the Single Malt sweater, I decided to finally make a British Aran Single Malt.
I was excited to knit the Single Malt again, using the original yarn I wanted to use. This yarn is a pretty, heathered steely blue/teal color and even though it’s a rustic yarn, it felt soft in my hands.
BRITISH ARAN SINGLE MALT
With 7 skeins of the British Aran yarn, I planned to make the Single Malt in size 5 which would be the perfect quantity of yarn. I knit the size 5 in my first Single Malt that I knit for my husband and it was a great fit for him.
Cast On + Neck Shaping
I wanted to try a tubular cast on to this sweater since I love the look of a rounded over collar. When I knit the Moby Mini sweater for my niece, I fell in love with the finishes. Things like the Italian bind off really gave the sweater a polished/professional look. So, with this Single Malt sweater, I wanted the same kind of look.
I found this blog post that explained a tubular cast on and I followed the directions. When I got to the end where the stitches are divided between both needles, I knit the Single Malt’s ribbing pattern alternating one stitch from each needle. So, I’d knit one from the front needle, knit one from the back needle, purl one from the front needle, etc. I think it looks really good and it still has a good amount of stretch. I knit the collar a little bit shorter than pattern — to 1.5″ — to hopefully save a bit of yarn since my 7 skeins were just slightly less than the recommended yardage.
Raglan Increases
Gauge Concerns
I was a little bit concerned with gauge as I knit the raglans. I hadn’t done a gauge swatch and I noticed that the fabric seemed a little loose. I had switched to the recommended US 8 needle size and the fabric was a little see through when I held up to the light.
I barely had enough yardage to be able to knit this sweater already, so I didn’t really want to knit/wash/block a swatch and “waste yarn”. I didn’t want to go down a needle size because I was trying to use the recommended needles for the pattern/yarn. I wondered if the sweater would bloom with blocking and fill in the gaps, or if it would stretch out and be even more holey. I went to Ravelry and looked at other finished projects that used this same yarn. Ultimately, I decided to roll the dice and keep going without a gauge swatch*.
*Spoiler*: This ended up causing me some issues later on. I wish I had done a swatch.
Increases + Splitting for Sleeves
As the raglans grew, I was really liking how the sweater was looking. The color is so nice and the pattern is really well-written. With all the increases, I moved up to a 30″ cable so it could be a little more comfortable for me.
Splitting for the sleeves is one of my favorite parts when knitting a top-down sweater. Once the sleeves were on hold, I switched my needles back down to a 22″ cable and started working on the body. I really love my Chiaogoo interchangeable needle set for how easy it is to create the needle/cable combination that works best in the moment.
If you’re interested in the Chiaogoo set but don’t want to invest so much at once, I recommend just buying the loose interchangeable needles and a cable in a size you frequently use. That way you can try them out and see if they work for you, and they will integrate into the full set if you get it later. I wish I’d done it that way, instead of buying fixed circular needles when I first learned to knit.
Body
I wanted to try to finish this sweater for the holidays, so I stopped working on all other projects and made the Single Malt Sweater my priority. I knit through the body pretty quickly and really enjoyed the simple pattern repeat.
I had already used 4 of my 7 British Aran skeins just before getting to the hem of the body. So I decided to do the decrease row, but then leave the hem undone and move onto the sleeves. I wasn’t sure I’d have enough yarn for this size 5 Single Malt to begin with based on the yardage estimates in the pattern, and I wanted to make sure I got the sleeves to the right length before finishing the body’s hem.
The Single Malt’s stitch pattern is really easy to memorize and it’s easy to find your place as long as you can read your stitches. When I knit my first Single Malt, I remember tracking each row of the repeat which is totally fine too. But now that I could read my stitches better, I didn’t need to track each row’s pattern.
Sleeves
I had held the sleeve stitches on some spare 8″ cables, so it was easy to attach my Shorties needles and begin knitting. I struggled a bit getting into the groove with the shorter needles and smaller circumference after working the body. I used my 2″ needles on the 8″ cable to begin and then switched down to the 6″ cable by the last decrease repeat.
The Chiaogoo shorties work with the regular interchangeable set as well, so you have a ton of combination options. I love having these sets because I feel equipped to work almost any project right away.
Once I got used to the change in circumference and the slight pattern differences, I finished the sleeves pretty quickly. I was really excited too because that meant that I could probably complete the sweater by the second week of December. But I was a little concerned/confused because the entire sleeve took just under one skein of yarn and I had two full skeins remaining. This sweater was estimated to used my full 7 skeins, and I didn’t see how that was going to happen.
Gauge Issues
Since I had one of the sleeves done, I thought it would be a good time to have my husband try on the sweater. I was hoping to get an idea of what was going on with the loose gauge and just check on the fit. I had already knit this sweater in Size 5 once before and expected the fit to be fine.
The fit was not fine. The sweater was super tight on my husband and the sleeve was way too short. I regretted not taking a gauge swatch. I laid out the original Single Malt and placed this British Aran sweater on top. This new sweater was much smaller-looking, but it also hadn’t been blocked. So, I stretched the British Aran out and it could reach the dimensions of the original, but it also shrunk up some of the length.
I was glad that the pattern texture has some room to grow so I could at least block it to the dimensions I wanted. But I was also stressed that the arm length was so short, and only seemed to get shorter when I stretch the sleeve to the width I wanted.
Adding Length + Compensating for Gauge
I ripped back the sleeve and added two more inches of pattern before knitting the cuff. I was frustrated at this sweater and annoyed that I hadn’t swatched or done a try-on sooner. I swatched with the first Single Malt and I definitely know better.
I mirrored the length addition on the second sleeve and moved back to the body. I undid that decrease row and added two inches in pattern before starting the hem. At this point, I was rushing through this sweater — partly because I was over it and wanted it to be done, and partly because I wanted to see if the fit could be salvaged. I was ready to never see this sweater again either way. Even with all of the extra length I added, I still have quite a bit of that 7th skein remaining.
Blocking – The Moment of Truth
I let this sweater soak in cool water for 5 – 7 minutes and then gently squeezed out as much water as I could. I lightly rolled it up in a towel to get out any extra water, and then set it out on the blocking mats.
I used the original sweater to set over top to help map out the dimensions for the British Aran Single Malt, and I pinned it into place. The sweater seemed good and I was hopeful that it would work after all.
I let the sweater completely dry (3 days) before my husband tried it on again. The sweater fits him perfectly! I was so relieved and happy.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Single Malt is a beautiful sweater with a unique stitch pattern and raglan detail. The pattern is well-written and very easy to follow. I think this sweater would be a good first-sweater knit because the pattern is really clear, and the top-down, raglan construction isn’t difficult.The Single Malt’s stitch pattern is easy to memorize and would be good practice for a new knitter to learn to read their stitches.
With this being my second Single Malt, I thought (incorrectly) that I wouldn’t need to swatch and could just “do what I did last time”. Obviously that created some unnecessary stress for me. I used a different yarn with this sweater and this was a gift knit, so I definitely should have swatched. Luckily for me, I was able to add length and the stitch pattern does grow with blocking so I was able to get a good fit.
Overall, I’m super happy with this sweater design and how my Single Malt turned out. Check out my Ravelry page for a look at the other projects I’m working on!
