For the first time in my life, I have been able to knit during the summer! I was recently looking through my old Chatbooks and saw a photo from 2019 or 2020 where I was actually trying to use baby powder on my hands just so I could knit during the warmer months. Spoiler alert: it didn’t help.
My poor body just didn’t know what to do with itself before I knew I had a clotting disorder. Better temperature regulation has been a huge, unexpected benefit of being on anticoagulants. Now, I no longer have to deal with sopping wet hands that keep me from knitting when the temperture get above 72º.
I started this sweater in June and was able to knit it over the summer. Shocker!
Style and Fit
On PetiteKnit’s website, the Northland sweater features saddle shoulders and is worked top-down. I’ve previously shared my frustrations about how poorly raglan sweaters fit Ryan, and so far, the European shoulder has been the clear winner for overall fit. I also don’t mind a dropped shoulder, as it functions similarly to a set-in sleeve. But where do saddle shoulders fit into the mix?
Raglan
The top-down raglan is a favorite among knitters, largely because it is one of the simplest styles to construct. Worked in a single piece from the neckline to the hem, it requires absolutely no seaming. You simply cast on the neckline stitches, join them in the round, and use markers to divide your work into four sections: the back, the front, and two sleeves. By increasing on both sides of each marker every other round, you add eight stitches at a time, creating the classic diagonal raglan lines.
While simple to knit, the raglan style relies heavily on a perfect match between shoulder width and depth, which is where fit issues often arise. Broad or square shoulders can cause the yoke to pull or sit awkwardly, while narrow or sloped shoulders can result in excess fabric bunching at the upper arms. The underarm fit can also be tricky; a shallow yoke feels tight and restricts movement, while a deep yoke can look baggy and sag. Additionally, because there is no shoulder seam to anchor the garment, raising your arms tends to lift the entire sweater. Over time, the fabric may also stretch and droop. Finally, fine-tuning the shape is difficult because the neck, shoulder, and chest stitch counts are all linked through the increases, meaning an adjustment to one inevitably affects the others.
Circular Yoke
A circular yoke is a top-down construction where the upper portion of the sweater (yoke) is worked in the round from the neckline. Stitches are increased evenly around the entire circumference, allowing the fabric to widen gradually. Instead of four distinct raglan lines, the shaping is distributed evenly across the yoke. This makes it an excellent canvas for colorwork or texture patterns, such as traditional Icelandic lopapeysa or Fair Isle designs, which can wrap around the chest and shoulders in beautiful bands.
This style is incredibly beginner-friendly because the increases follow a simple, regular pattern. However, its main drawback is the fit. The shoulders lack definition, and the yoke depth and stitch count must be calculated carefully to avoid tightness or bagginess. The resulting rounded shape can also look less tailored than other styles, which is why I’ve been a bit nervous to try a circular yoke on Ryan.
Dropped Shoulder
The dropped shoulder is the first style on this list that introduces some tailoring and shaping. It sits comfortably between a casual, oversized fit and a tailored one by offering a defined shoulder line. It can be worked top-down, with the upper back and front knit flat. A few stitches are then cast off at the underarms before everything is joined in the round.
Because the armhole depth and overall sweater width aren’t tied together—as they are in raglan or circular yoke sweaters—you can easily adjust the shoulder and chest width to better suit your body type. Another major benefit is that you aren’t stuck with a fixed armhole depth. Having the armhole sit closer to your body allows for better arm mobility, a cleaner drape across the chest, and a sweater that actually stays in place when you lift your arms.
Saddle
A saddle shoulder features a narrow strip of fabric—the “saddle”—that runs across the top of each shoulder from the neckline to the sleeve. In a top-down sweater, you typically knit this saddle first as a narrow strip, often just a few inches wide. The stitch count is determined by your shoulder width and the top width of the sleeve. The back and front neck stitches are then picked up along the edges of the strip and worked downward, while the sleeve stitches are picked up along the saddle’s end.
Because the saddle forms a distinct, straight shoulder line, the garment achieves a more structured, tailored look than a raglan. This construction also stabilizes the shoulder, helping to prevent the sweater from stretching and drooping over time. Compared to a European shoulder, the saddle is much more visible as a design element and features less shaping across the back, making it best suited for straighter shoulders and a looser, boxier fit.
European
The European shoulder provides the tailored silhouette of a set-in sleeve through a unique construction method. You begin by knitting the upper back panel, shaping the slanted shoulder slopes using short rows. Stitches are then picked up along these angled shoulder lines to work the front panels separately. Finally, everything is joined under the arms to complete the body in the round.
The primary benefit of the European shoulder lies in its exceptional fit. By slanting the shoulder line backward, the seam sits discreetly across the upper back rather than directly on top of the shoulder. This creates a beautiful drape that highlights the natural curve of the neck and shoulders. Because the neck, back width, and chest dimensions are shaped independently during the upper yoke construction, the fit can be easily customized for broad, square, sloped, or narrow frames. Furthermore, the seam along the back acts as a built-in anchor, stabilizing the sweater’s weight and preventing it from shifting backward or stretching out of shape over time.
Sizing
Ryan’s chest measures 40 inches, so I decided to knit a size Large (which fits a 39.75 to 42.45-inch chest).
The final garment chest measurement for this size is 45.75 inches, giving him about 5 to 6 inches of positive ease.
I don’t have much else to say about PetiteKnit’s sizing here. The sizes are evenly distributed, the intended ease is consistent across the board, and the grading is very standard. It’s really vanilla.
Details
I’ve been avoiding Peer Gynt by Sandnes Garn for a while simply because it’s 100% Norwegian wool rather than merino. It is definitely scratchier, and I found myself pulling out bits of what looked like dried grass as I worked. However, I didn’t have any allergy issues with it, and the finished fabric has a definite rustic feel. Not sure how comfortable it will be to wear, but they say the yarn does soften over time!
The pattern calls for 600 g of Peer Gynt (12 skeins), held together with 150 g of Alpakka Følgetråd by Sandnes Garn (3 skeins). I ended up needing 13 skeins of Peer Gynt, though the 3 skeins of Alpakka Følgetråd were just right.
The recommended needles are 5 mm (US 8), with a gauge of 17 stitches and 25 rows over 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch. I was able to achieve gauge with 5 mm needles.
Final Fit
Personal Aside
I recently came across a 2024 Fast Company article that completely summed up my frustrations with how technology is letting down caregivers and the elderly. I’ve personally experienced every single issue listed in the piece:
- Apps going “missing” because they are far too easy to accidentally rearrange.
- Multiple copies of the same app icon cluttering the App Library under “Suggestions,” “Recently Added,” and “Productivity.”
- No Assistive Access mode for the Apple Watch. (On iPhone, Assistive Access strips the interface down to a few big, simple buttons. The Watch has nothing like it.)
- The notoriously limited battery life on the Apple Watch.
These frustrations hit close to home recently when my dad had a scary incident and got lost several miles from his house. If I hadn’t slipped an AirTag into his wallet just the day before, we would have had to call the police to find him.
Since then, I’ve put a lot of trackers on my dad, because you never know which device he’ll have with him. There’s an AirTag in his wallet, and his iPhone obviously provides tracking. I also bought him a new Apple Watch with cellular and GPS, so if he leaves the house without his phone, I can still see where he is and call him directly on his wrist. (You can also put AirTags on shoes, or even make an AirTag wristband that can’t easily be removed, if it comes to that.)
And if all of that fails (his watch is dead, he doesn’t have his wallet, and his phone is sitting at home), I’ve put a medical ID on his watchband so anyone who finds him knows who he is and what he needs. I actually wear one on my own watchband too, because I’m on an anticoagulant.
Hopefully I won’t have to worry about Dad wandering off again. He was incredibly scared after the incident, and I think it showed him just how much he’s struggling cognitively. It was a tough realization for him that he can’t go out by himself anymore.
The Battery Problem
I added my parents’ iCloud accounts to my Family Sharing group. Once they share their location with me, I can see all of their devices in Find My, including each device’s battery status. Convenient, right?
So, logical me thought: hmm, I wonder if I can create a Shortcut (Apple’s built-in automation app) that texts my mom when my dad’s Apple Watch drops below a certain percentage, so she knows to put it on the charger. The answer is a definite NO. Shortcuts can only read the battery life of an iPhone or iPad, not Apple Watch.
Okay, then could I at least see the battery status of a device in my Find My list without opening the app, navigating to Devices, and tapping on my dad’s Apple Watch every time? Again, NO. There’s no widget that exposes the battery level.
What irritates me most is that the information is right there. I have access to it. Apple has just decided to make it inconvenient and lock it down. This is exactly the kind of thing Cory Doctorow in his book “Enshittification” and the Home Assistant community complain about. (Home Assistant is a free, open-source smart home platform that lets you run all your devices and data locally on your own hardware, instead of depending on each manufacturer’s walled-garden app.) I own the device, I create the data, and I should be able to access it and use it however I want.
I did find a Python script that, when run on my computer, logs into iCloud and prints the battery percentage of every device on the account:
import osfrom pyicloud import PyiCloudServiceapi = PyiCloudService( os.environ["ICLOUD_USER"], os.environ["ICLOUD_PASS"], cookie_directory=os.path.expanduser("~/.icloud_session"),)for d in api.devices: s = d.status() name = s.get("name") level = s.get("batteryLevel", 0) print(f"{name}: {round(level * 100)}%")
It works, but a script on my computer doesn’t help much unless it can actually message me when a device needs to be charged. The easiest way to get automated alerts on my phone is via a chat bot (like Signal app), but that means creating yet another account. I briefly considered Signal after leaving Instagram—just in case anyone wanted to stay in touch—but it hasn’t really come up. That said, the offer is still on the table if anyone wants to chat!
The only other option I know of is to set up Home Assistant at my parents’ place, connect all of their Apple devices to it, and build a dashboard showing their battery levels (plus automations that could alert my mom automatically). That’s WAY too much work. It took me over four months to get Home Assistant running at my own house. No way I’m going through that again just to get battery levels for my parents’ iPhones and my dad’s Apple Watch.
There is an app called “Fall Guard” that I might try the next time I drive out to their house. It supposedly reports battery life, so maybe I can get it to send me notifications?
New Habits
To save my own sanity, I have continued to make changes in my life. One big change, we got rid of our TV and expanded our living room seating with new reclining chairs.
Now, for entertainment, we listen to music, read books from the library, or just talk. We’ve been living with this new arrangement for over a month, and my resting heart rate has dropped from 52–53 BPM down to 49–50 BPM. I’d say that is definitely an improvement! Plus, I’m already on book ten of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, Moving Pictures.
I also signed up for KEXP’s New Music Tuesday newsletter. Getting a list of six new albums delivered to my inbox each week has been absolutely fantastic.
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