This fall, I'm casting on the viral Upstream sweater to see if all the TikTok hype holds up, one stitch at a time, with plenty of coffee and cursing along the way.
Project Summary
Pattern: Upstream Sweater by Rows (Alice Hoyle)
Total time: 25 days (3 weeks and 1 day), roughly 2 hours of knitting daily
Yarn: Pound of Love in Oxford Gray (Lion Brand), approximately 1.5 skeins used
Needles and hooks: 2.5mm for cuffs and collar, 3mm for the body, 2mm crochet hook for closing off the cuffs
Rating: 4 out of 5
Notes:
I absolutely adore the texture. The fit and style look very cool and modern. Happy with the yarn choice from my stash.
To be honest, I prefer acrylic yarn because there are no surprises with blocking at the end. Pound of Love is my preferred yarn. It is really soft and nice to work with. You can also wind a huge ball from a single skein, which results in less weaving at the end.
Pattern feedback:
Overall it was easy to follow, but in the end I had to create my own checklists and modify some parts to make it work for me. I am also still dumbfounded about the sleeve casting on discrepancy. In the end I made it work, but I am not sure where it stopped making sense for me to follow the pattern.
I would definitely knit this pattern again, but will have to rely on my personal notes to make sense of it again.
August 14, 2026 - Day 1: Finding the Materials and Making a Swatch
After months of eyeing the Upstream sweater on TikTok, I'm finally casting on tonight. I just wrapped up a marathon of three cable-heavy sweaters for my friend's kids, so this feels like the perfect palette cleanser, mostly just knits and purls with that gorgeous textured ribbing I've been obsessed with since I first saw it online. Since I'm on a budget, I dug through my stash and landed on Pound of Love in Oxford Grey, which I think will showcase the texture beautifully. I want this to be an everyday casual sweater, something cozy I can throw on with anything, and I've heard so many people say they get compliments whenever they wear theirs out. I already swatched and had to size down considerably from the recommended 4.5 mm to a 3 mm needle. Turns out I knit loose, and it took a few tries to hit gauge. Now that I'm confident in my sizing, I decided to go with the L, the fourth size, for that loose, comfortable, cozy fit I'm after. Collar cast-on starts tonight!
August 15th, 2026 - Day 2: Casting On and Knitting the Collar
The needles are down, the coffee cups are washed, and I am calling it a night. But what a solid foundation of a day this was.
Today was all about the beginning. The official start. I sat down with my yarn, my pattern, and that familiar mix of excitement and "what-have-I-gotten-myself-into" jitters. The pattern recommended a long-tail cast-on, plain and simple. But about thirty seconds before I made my first loop, I hesitated. My brain started whispering: What about a tubular cast-on?
For a 2x2 ribbed collar, a tubular cast-on gives that gorgeous, polished, store-bought finish. It is stretchy, which is critical when you are starting a top-down sweater. That collar has to clear the widest part of your head before it can settle around your neck. I even pulled up a tutorial, mentally preparing for the setup rows and the stitch-switching acrobatics.
But then, gut feeling took over. I decided to stick with the long-tail. Why? Honestly? Less hassle. Tubular requires a robust setup and a lot of attention right out of the gate, and I just wanted to knit. Long-tail is fast, dependable, and still plenty stretchy. More importantly, it offers a bit more structure, which might actually be a blessing for the collar. It will not sag or stretch out of shape over time.
And thank goodness I trusted that instinct. As I started casting on and actually reading the pattern more deeply instead of just skimming, I realized the ribbing is not a straight 2x2 all the way through. It alternates to 3x2 at certain seam points and around the raglan lines. Can you imagine trying to fudge a tubular setup through that? I dodged a bullet. The knitting gods were smiling on me today.
With all 104 stitches cast on, I switched to the recommended 1mm needles for the collar. And oh, my hands. Knitting at this gauge is tiny. It is precision work that requires focus and a gentle grip. My right hand cramped up a few times, and I had to shake it out. But wow. The result was worth it. That ribbing is tight, crisp, and immaculate. It looks like it was machine-made, which is exactly the kind of structure I was hoping for.
Then came the transition into the textured pattern itself. This is where the day got humbling. The collar was straightforward, but once I moved past it and started the yoke's textured stitch, my brain had to recalibrate. I made mistakes. I frogged back a couple of rows. I lost my place in the repeat more than once.
This is where stitch markers became my absolute best friends, as they always do. I loaded them up between every repeat, using them as little guardrails to keep me from veering off into purl-land when I should be knitting, and vice versa. By the end of the afternoon, we had made peace, the markers and I.
I ended the day on a high note. I completed a couple of rows of raglan increases. The yoke is officially started.
And now, I have set myself up for tomorrow's challenge: German short rows. This part is genuinely intimidating. I know it is the key to a good fit in the back neck, but it involves turning mid-row, wrapping stitches, and keeping tension consistent through all that twisting. I could have pushed through tonight, but I know myself. If I am tired and impatient, I will botch it.
So I am putting it off until the morning. Fresh eyes, fresh hands, and most importantly, a full day ahead to rip back and try again if I need to. That is the plan: brew a strong pot of tea, take it slow, and remember that every short row is just one stitch at a time.
Day two: conquered. Onto the tricky part tomorrow.
August 16, 2026 - Day 3: German Short Rows and Continuing with Raglan Increases
As predicted, today was the day I finally faced my nemesis: the German Short Rows.
This is my first time using this technique to shape the back of a garment, and I won't lie. I was pretty intimidated going in. The pattern promised a better fit across the shoulders, but my brain just saw a tangle of wrapping stitches and backward turns. And you know what? It lived up to the hype. It was tricky.
The most frustrating part? The progress is almost invisible. I spent hours knitting, yet the front of the sweater looks exactly the same as it did yesterday. All the action is happening on the back, so it feels like I'm running in place.
In the beginning, I tried really hard to follow the logic of the short rows, to understand how the back was being structured and why I was turning where I was. But somewhere around the third turn, I got completely lost. I gave up on trying to be a knitting architect and just started following the pattern on autopilot.
That's when I hit the second layer of difficulty. If this were a simple stockinette stitch, the math would have clicked eventually. But this pattern features a beautiful wavy ribbed pattern, which means constant alternations between knits and purls. The stitch repetitions kept changing with every row, and my concentration took a real beating. Trying to manage the short-row turns while counting out a wavy rib was a lot for my brain to handle.
At some point, I had to let go of my inner control freak and just trust the instructions. It was either that or unravel the whole thing in frustration.
To make matters worse, because of the different sizes in the pattern, it became nearly impossible to figure out whether a stitch should be a knit or a purl at certain spots. So I did what any modern, tech-savvy knitter would do. I asked ChatGPT to strip down the pattern so that it only showed the numbers of stitches for my size.
Game changer. Having a clean, pared-down version made the process so much more manageable. I will say, ChatGPT isn't perfect. It made a couple of mistakes in the counting, so I ended up double-checking against the original pattern quite often. But even with that back-and-forth verification, it saved me a ton of mental energy.
Then, suddenly, it was over. The German short rows were finished. It felt almost anticlimactic, like, "Wait, that's it? I built the back of a sweater and I didn't even see it happen?"
After that, it was smooth sailing. The rest of the session was pure rhythm, just continuing with the raglan increases. No turning, no wrapping, just steady, repetitive knitting. It felt like a reward after the mental marathon of the short rows.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping to power through the majority of the sleeves, back, and front shaping. And if I'm really lucky, I might even get to switch to the longer needle size. That, in my head, is the ultimate sign that this project is getting real.
August 17, 2026 - Day 4: Stranded on a Raglan Island (Day 1)
Today was steady.
I knitted 18 rows of raglan after yesterday's intense German short rows. It was a nice break. Just repetitive knitting. No thinking, just going.
I'm still figuring out the purl row alternations in the pattern. I keep messing up the rhythm. But it's good practice. Each row helps me understand it a little better.
If everything goes well, I should finish the raglan increases tomorrow or the day after. Fingers crossed.
That's it for today. Simple rows, simple day.
August 18th - Day 5 : Raglan Island (Day Two)
As predicted, I'm officially stuck on Raglan Island. But there is a silver lining. I'm getting so comfortable with the knit and purl rhythm that I think I could knit this pattern in my sleep. The stitches are finally starting to feel intuitive rather than forced.
I managed to get through 17 rows today, slow but steady progress. I am guessing I have one more day of raglan ahead of me, and then fingers crossed I will be moving on to the next section tomorrow.
For now, I'm settling in for another day of repeats.
August 19th, 2026 - Day 6: Raglan Island (Day 3)
The yoke keeps growing. I finished eight more rows today, which feels modest, but every round increases the stitch count.
I am starting to accept that Raglan Island is going to be at least a four or five day stay. My earlier hope of wrapping it up tomorrow might be optimistic, but I am still aiming to get more done today and hopefully finish by tomorrow.
For now, I am picking up my needles and getting back to it. The rhythm is there. I just need to keep going.
August 20, 2026 - Day 7: Raglan Island (Day 4)
I powered through 15 rows today, feeling great about the progress, only to realize I missed a small but crucial instruction. I need to keep going with the raglan for at least another 30 rows. So much for finishing tomorrow. Realistically, I am looking at Saturday now, since I can only manage about 14 rows a day at this pace.
That said, I tried on the work in progress today, and it looks gorgeous. No complaints here. I love the texture, and the knitting itself brings me so much joy. The extra days on the island are not so bad when the result is this beautiful.
August 21, 2026 - Day 8: Raglan Island (Day 5)
Nothing new to report. Just the same increases, row after row. The yoke keeps growing. 7 rows completed.
I can see the end now. Soon the raglan increases will stop and the sweater body will begin. That shift is getting close.
But for today, I'm still on Raglan Island. And I'm not hating it. In fact, I'm enjoying this quiet, repetitive stretch. No decisions, no mistakes, just knitting.
The end is in sight, but I'm not rushing. I'm just here, enjoying the process while it lasts.
August 22, 2026 - Day 9: Raglan Island (Day 6)
Well, I spoke too soon.
I was feeling so peaceful yesterday, enjoying the rhythm, trusting the process. And then I spotted it. A mistake. Ten rows down. Unfixable.
So I frogged. All that progress, gone in a few pulls of the yarn.
The Raglan Island stay has been extended by at least one more day. Maybe two. I'm back to where I was two days ago, climbing the same hill again.
But you know what? It's just part of the process. This isn't my first frog and it won't be my last. The yarn is still good, the needles are still clicking, and I'm still knitting.
August 23rd, 2026 – Day 10: Dividing stitches into sleeves and body
I am officially off Raglan Island. The increases are done. The yoke is complete. Today I divided the stitches, put the sleeves on hold, and joined the body under the arms. It feels like a real sweater now.
Welcome to Body Island.
This is the long stretch. Probably gonna stay here for another four to five days.
August 24th, 2026 - Day 11: The body of the sweater (Day 1).
And now I'm in the thick of it.
Just knitting the body, round after round. No increases, no decreases, no counting. Just the same stitch over and over. I feel like I could knit this pattern in my sleep now. Honestly, I might have dozed off for a second or two between rows.
I've finished about sixteen rows so far. Not a huge number, but it's a start. The fabric is growing, the yarn is flowing, and my hands know exactly what to do.
Body Island is quiet. No surprises. Just me and the endless round.
Four more days to go. Maybe less if I keep this pace.
August 25th, 2026 - Day 12: The body of the sweater (Day 2).
More rounds. More repetitions. The same stitch, the same rhythm, the same circular path. I've lost count of how many rows I've done, but the sweater is getting longer. That's what matters.
Nothing exciting to report. No mistakes, no frogging, no surprises. Just quiet knitting and a growing pile of fabric in my lap.
August 26th, 2026 - Day 13: The body of the sweater (Day 3).
held it up against yesterday's progress and squinted. Maybe an inch longer? Hard to tell. But I know it's growing. I can feel the weight in my lap shifting, getting heavier bit by bit.
Still just knitting round and round. Still no surprises. But somehow that tiny, almost invisible progress keeps me going.
August 27th, 2026 - Day 14: The body of the sweater (Day 4).
And just like that, the end of the body is creeping up.
The pattern section is almost over. I finished the last of it today, and now it's just the 2x2 ribbing to finish it off. A few more rows of knit two, purl two, and then casting off tomorrow. It feels strange to be this close.
Who knows, maybe I'll even pick up stitches for the sleeve tomorrow. But no pressure. One step at a time.
August 28th, 2026 - Day 15: Completed body, started the right sleeve
I casted off the body today!
And I really like how roomy the sweater is turning out to be. I went with the original length, which gives it a more boxy and cropped look. It complements my body well.
Then I moved on to the sleeves. And that's where I hit a problem.
I think I may have messed up at some point, which resulted in some deviation from the original pattern when it came to pattern repetition. I'm not even sure where it happened. But thankfully, I've memorized the pattern well enough by now that I managed to make the necessary alterations to accommodate the discrepancies.
Crisis averted. Mostly.
The sleeves are underway.
August 29th, 2026 - Day 16: Right Sleeve (Day 1)
I've knitted quite a bit of rows on the sleeve. But I have a sinking suspicion that I've made a mistake.
The sleeve seems too long. And the decreases look sloppy. Something feels off, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
This is the snapshot of today's progress. Most likely to be unraveled tomorrow.
I need to look at the pattern with fresh eyes and a fresh brain tomorrow morning. No point in guessing tonight.
Some days you knit. Some days you just set it down and walk away.
August 30th, 2026 - Day 17: Right Sleeve (Day 2)
Yep!!!!! I was right.
I made too many rows before starting the decreases. And I misread the pattern for the proper more defined decrease joins. Two mistakes stacked on top of each other.
As expected, I unraveled the whole sleeve and started from scratch. But the good news is I pretty much knitted up to the point where I stopped yesterday, so no real time lost.
I also made a handy dandy decrease rows checklist (thanks ChatGPT!) to help me stay on track and not mess up again. So far, so good. Every decrease row gets a little checkmark, and I can see exactly where I am at a glance.
Take two is going much better.
August 31st, 2026 - Day 18: Right Sleeve (Day 3)
Sleeve is coming along. The checklist is very helpful. No guessing, no second-guessing. Just check the box and keep knitting.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. The decreases are lining up properly this time, and the sleeve is taking shape the way it should.
Took a moment today to appreciate the texture. The stitch pattern really shows up nicely in this yarn. Sometimes you get so focused on the mechanics that you forget to actually look at what you're making.
But today I looked. And it's good.
September 1st, 2026 - Day 19: Right Sleeve Finished (Day 4)
Eeek!! I am at the casting off point!!!
I can't believe it. The first sleeve is finished. The decreases worked out, the length is right, and the checklist was the most helpful thing. I don't think I would have made it here without it.
Now I just need to reuse and recreate the whole process for the left sleeve. Same pattern, same checklist, same patience. At least I know what I'm doing this time.
One sleeve down. One to go.
September 2nd, 2026 - Day 20: Left Sleeve (Day 1)
Right sleeve is casted off. Not loving the flare at the cuff, if I'm honest. I ordered a smaller crochet hook that will come in a couple of days, but for now it will do.
Left sleeve is on the needles, cruising along. The checklist is back in action and keeping me honest.
The next update (fingers crossed) will be a finished sweater.
I'm plugging off for a Labor Day weekend with the family at Kennebunkport. But of course I'm bringing my knitting with me. I'm an early bird, so I'll have at least a couple of hours each morning to work on my sweater while everyone else sleeps.
Quiet mornings, coffee, and knitting by the coast. Sounds pretty perfect.
September 3rd, 2026 — September 7 - Day 21-25: Finishing it all up!
It is done!!!
I finished it over quiet mornings in Kennebunkport. Coffee in one hand, needles in the other, everyone else still asleep. Those early hours were exactly what this sweater needed.
The smaller crochet hook worked perfectly. The flare at the cuff is fixed. The ends are weaved, and I even found my faux leather brand tag to put on the hem of the sweater.
It looks pretty perfect to me.
I can't wait until cooler days when I can actually put it on. Right now we're still in the last 80 degree summer days, so it will hang in the closet for a little while longer, waiting.
But it's done. And I'm so happy.