CIC Gansey Finished

Pattern: Chelsea's Heart Gansey from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Chest size 24 inches.

Yarn: Elann's Peruvian Highland Wool

Color: Antique Rose

Needles: US #4

Gauge: 6 stitches, 8 rows per inch in stockinette

I hesitated to show it in this unblocked condition, but it's either that or no knitting to blog about. So, here you have it - a finished, unblocked toddler gansey for the CIC sweater challenge. It is designed with gussets and shaping to fit a human body and not to lay flat and look pretty in a picture.

It was knit bottom up in one piece without a single seam to sew up when finished. I totally enjoyed that. There is a three needle bind off at the shoulders.

The pattern called for a sport weight yarn knit at six stitches an inch. Although I'm a fairly loose knitter, I had no trouble knitting worsted weight Elann's Peruvian Highland Wool at that gauge with #4 needles.

The book shows many different ways to knit an underarm gusset. This method has the shaping along the center gusset stitch.

The purl stitch that looks like a side seam but isn't splits to go along both edges of the gusset. On the sleeve side of the gusset it joins back into one purl stitch to run down the underside of the sleeve.


The neckline is unshaped except for the triangular neckline gusset in the ribbing at both shoulder seams.

I used up my leftover FLAK yarn for this sweater with not an inch left over. In fact if you must know the truth, I had to rip out the toe of a recently knit pair of CIC socks to finish the second cuff. (It won't take long to give the socks a new toe in a pretty color other than antique rose.)

Although I used the measurements in the pattern, if I were to knit this pattern again and had enough yarn, I would make it longer for the CIC kids. They are using these sweaters to stay warm in very cold conditions, and some extra length helps.