Swans Island Rockport Henley Jumper Knitting Pattern

Swans Island Rockport Henley

What Is Being Made

The Rockport Henley is an intermediate-level women's henley sweater designed by Laura Chaute. This classic henley features a fitted silhouette available in six sizes ranging from extra small to double extra large, with finished bust measurements from 30¾ inches to 50¾ inches and lengths from 23 to 26½ inches. The garment is accented with a button placket at the neckline, requiring 3 to 5 buttons (½ inch diameter) depending on size.

Techniques Used

The Rockport Henley is constructed using a bottom-up seamed approach, meaning the body is knitted from the lower edge upward and pieces are sewn together at the seams. Portions of the garment are worked in the round using circular needles, which creates seamless sections and allows for efficient construction of cylindrical pieces like the body and sleeves. This combination of techniques—bottom-up construction with in-the-round sections—provides both structural integrity and design flexibility for shaping the garment.

Stitches Used

The pattern employs two primary stitch patterns:

• Stockinette Stitch: The main fabric of the sweater, created by knitting on the right side and purling on the wrong side (when working flat) or knitting every round (when working circularly). Stockinette stitch produces the smooth, classic knit fabric characteristic of traditional sweaters.
• Seed Stitch: Used as a textured detail, seed stitch is created by alternating knit and purl stitches in a checkerboard pattern. For circular sections, knitters alternate between knit-purl and purl-knit rounds; for flat sections, each row reverses the stitch pattern of the previous row. This creates a bumpy, textured surface that adds visual and tactile interest to the design.

The pattern also incorporates shaping techniques including yarn overs for decorative increases, knit two together (k2tog) and slip-slip-knit (ssk) decreases for fitted shaping, and make one left (m1L) and make one right (m1R) increases for invisible shaping. Advanced construction includes wrap and turn (w&t) techniques, which are used to create short rows for custom shaping and fit adjustments.

Materials

The Rockport Henley is knitted with Swans Island Natural Colors fingering-weight yarn in 100% organic merino wool. Each skein contains 100 grams and yields 525 yards, with the pattern requiring 3 to 4 skeins for smaller sizes (XS through L) and 4 to 5 skeins for larger sizes (XL and XXL). The yarn color shown in the pattern is Oyster (YF137).

Knitting needles required are US size 2.5 (3mm) circular needles measuring 32 inches or longer, along with matching double-pointed needles for smaller circumference sections. Additional notions include stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats and shaping points, and a yarn needle for seaming and weaving in ends. The pattern specifies checking gauge to achieve the correct fit, with a target gauge of 7 stitches and 10½ rounds per inch in stockinette stitch.