Knitting Knit - Ribbed Turtleneck for 65-70cm boys

I've been meaning to post this for, errrrrr, about two years now . . . it probably isn't for absolute beginners, but once you've done some knitting and are comfortable working in the round on double-pointed needles, it's pretty simple.

Pattern for 70cm/SD16/SD17-sized allover ribbed turtleneck sweater (link to archived post in my Livejournal): Speaking of turtlenecks . . .

Since I first started knitting these, I've made one refinement. After joining the body and sleeves, I start my first round in the middle of the sweater back (just pick a side: back and front are identical at this point) and work one round in the ribbing pattern. When I reach the beginning of the second round, I turn and work back in pattern, then continue to knit the rest of the sweater in rows (making the raglan decreases on the right-side rows according to the original instructions). This makes an opening up the back; since the sweater doesn't have to fit over the doll's head, I can decrease down to 40 or even 36 stitches for the turtleneck, depending on how tightly I want the neck to fit.

Once I've finished knitting and grafted the underarms, I pick up stitches on the left side of the back opening (picking up through both layers of the folded-over turtleneck--this makes a nice tidy edge). Usually I pick up 4 stitches for every 5 rows. Work three rows in 1x1 ribbing, then bind off loosely. Sew down the bottom edge of that placket strip inside the sweater body, darn in yarn ends, and sew on three snaps. When the "raw" edge of the ribbing is snapped in place and the sweater is blocked, the back opening is almost invisible.

The finished product on my Dollshe Hound:

 

I did talk about that in my post! Instead of knitting the top part of the sweater in the round, you knit it back and forth, using the center back as the beginning/ending point. Then, as I said in the post, you pick up stitches along one side of that opening, knit a few rows in garter stitch and bind off. Sew down the bottom edge of that little flap on the inside of the sweater, so that the garter-stitch flap is hidden when you bring the rib-patterned edges together. Sew on snaps, and it's easy to dress and undress your doll.

That said, in sport-weight yarn, knitted as I wrote the pattern, the neck will stretch enough to go over most heads. I didn't have any trouble putting the original sweater (no back opening) on either my Hound or my Yukinojo. 2x2 ribbing is VERY forgiving; it will stretch a lot and spring right back into shape.

 

Hi, Sjay -- sorry I didn't notice your post until now! The gauge I got on the sweater that's pictured is 9 stitches/inch unstretched, 6 stitches/inch stretched as the fabric would be in wear.

 

@Haven_Of_Dolls336, you won't need more than about 1/2 a normal-sized skein of light sportweight or heavy fingering-weight yarn. 250-300 yards will be more than enough, but it's a good estimate if you want to be on the safe side.