The Zipper Sweater by PetiteKnit Without A Zip

The beginning

A few years ago, PetiteKnit released its Zipper Sweater pattern. I immediately fell for it because it opened up new creative possibilities for me.

Indeed, I had been knitting for a long time using patterns only from Phildar or Garnstudio, as the online offerings were quite limited.

While these two brands offer very nice patterns, they often remained quite classic. Thus, I had never really thought about the fact that closures in knitting could be achieved differently than with buttonholes.

So, even though this type of very "casual" sweater is not really my style, I embarked on my first Zipper Sweater, which I made with alpaca and brushed alpaca.

I must say that I really enjoyed making it because, even though the model is simple, the pattern is far from simplistic and has several technical subtleties that represent a little challenge.

As for the result you can see here, it's a sweater that I still wear a lot today because it's very warm and has saved me more than once with its high collar when I was commuting to work by bike in winter or hiking.

The Inspiration

If this isn't your first article, you know that I am an advocate for responsible knitting. One of the consequences of this is that I am very mindful of my knitting-related purchases. I try not to buy yarn without a specific project in mind to avoid accumulation, avoid acquiring unnecessary accessories as seen often on social media ads, reuse my scraps, recycle sweaters I no longer wear, etc.

I also try not to over-consume patterns and reuse them as much as possible by making them multiple times, even embellishing them with some homemade hacks for customization (there's a whole category in this blog about this!).

I had been thinking for a while about creating a version of a trucker sweater with a buttonhole, inspired by Sézane's model pictured here. I thought that a small customization of the PetiteKnit pattern could help achieve the desired result.

Here's how I proceeded!

Pattern Hack

For this project, in terms of material, I wanted to bring a slightly quirky touch by knitting it in ecru wool embellished with a second thread of multicolored Baby Suri Alpaca. This adds volume and a touch of color to the model.

My goal was to follow the model as it is because everything suited me except for the closure system. So, I followed the pattern for all the steps except for the buttonhole area:

I started by casting on 13 stitches more than planned.
I then identified with a marker on each side the buttonholes, i.e., the first 13 stitches and the last 13 stitches. For reference, for my customization, I planned a 4cm/1.6in wide buttonhole, which is 6 knit stitches + 1 purl stitch that connects with the rest of the sweater on each side.
I then followed the pattern, working the first buttonhole stitch in purl on the wrong side and knit on the right side, and the next 12 stitches in double jersey, as follows:
- On the right side: Body knitted as in the pattern, one purl stitch, | one knit stitch in jersey, one slipped stitch | x6
- On the wrong side: | one knit stitch in jersey, one slipped stitch | x6, one purl stitch, body knitted as in the pattern.
I continued like this until the buttonhole measured 28cm/11in, then I joined the work in a round by knitting the buttonhole stitches together (first right buttonhole stitch with the last left buttonhole stitch, etc.) and knitting the last body stitch with the purl stitch. Thus, the buttonholes overlap.
To finish, I used transparent snap buttons to complete the garment. You can choose to sew real buttons, but in that case, don't forget to create buttonholes along the button plackets at regular intervals.