Langstroth

Knitting
April 2010
Aran (8 wpi) ?
19 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches
in honeycomb
US 7 - 4.5 mm
US 5 - 3.75 mm
660 - 990 yards (604 - 905 m)
26", 28", 30", and 32" chest; corresponds to children's sizes 4, 6/8, 8/10, & 10/12
English
This pattern is available for $3.99 USD
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Men’s version available! See Langstroth Sr.

This raglan pullover looks dashing and is easy to make. The honeycomb pattern on the body of the sweater is a simple combination of knit, purl, and slipped stitches. The body and sleeves are knit in the round separately and joined at the yoke. The body and sleeves are then worked all together from armpit to neck, which leaves mere inches of seaming to be done at the end of the project.

I am a historian of science, so I name some of my designs for scientific figures from the past. In 1853, Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth published The Hive and the Honey Bee, which for the first time described many of the beekeeping techniques that are still used today. Langstroth invented the concept of “bee space,” which means leaving about 1 cm (the size of a bee) between each frame in a hive box. This encourages bees to build honeycombs only on the removable frames, instead of on the hive box itself. This made it possible for beekeepers to handle the frames and extract honey as they had never been able to do before.

Additional gauge information: 19 sts = 4” = 27 rows in stockinette on larger needles.

Materials needed (besides yarn listed above):

  • size 7 circular needle, 24” length (or size needed to obtain gauge)

  • size 5 circular needle, 24” length (or two sizes smaller than the larger needle used to obtain gauge)

  • set of 4 or 5 double-pointed needles (dpns) in smaller and larger sizes (or, to knit sleeves on two circulars, a second 24” circular needle in the smaller and larger sizes)

  • stitch markers

  • blunt-tipped tapestry needle (for seaming and weaving in ends)

  • pins (for blocking)