Jessica Fletcher Knitalong

Calling all knitters! Join me for a fish sweater knitalong

Jenny Hammerton

Aug 17, 2023

Who remembers this cosy cardi worn by J.B. in series 1, episode 2?

Don’t you fancy having one of these for your ownself?

I am guessing if you wander around wearing this sweater (especially if you live in Maine), eventually a Murder, She Wrote fan will come up and say hello.

I’ve been planning to knit one for YEARS, and the time has come, my friends. Does anyone else want to knit along with me?

OR - do you have someone who loves you enough to knit you one?!

I have a feeling that there might be at least ONE other person who falls into the middle of this Venn diagram. If it even crosses your mind to join me in this creative endeavour, please get yourself to a local yarn store before the moment passes!

I’ll be kicking off my cardi on SEPTEMBER 18TH (International Angela Lansbury Appreciation Day) with a live cast-on session at 7 pm BST on Instagram (I am silverscreensuppers if you don’t already follow me).

Tune in, even if you are not a knitter, as I’ll be answering questions about writing the Murder, She Cooked book and running a competition to win a copy, plus other Cabot Cove related goodies.

This gives you a month to gather supplies, so why not cast on with me? You know you want to!

There’s a lot of info about the fish sweater on a fabulous blog called Exploring Jessica Fletcher’s Closet. That’s how I tracked down the exact knitting pattern for J.B.’s clobber. Here’s the first post, and here’s the second. The pattern is by Mary Maxim, and it is #414V - Angler’s Pride.

If you are in the UK, don’t be confused by the 4ply announcement on the front of the pattern - this pattern is for super thick yarn (Bulky in the USA, Chunky to those in the UK and possibly elsewhere), so it won’t take a million years to knit - or will it?!

Talking of Pee Wee, maybe once I’ve done the Angler’s Pride, I’ll have a go at this fluffy little number…

You can buy a downloadable version of the Angler’s Pride knitting pattern for $2.99 here, and there is also a version for worsted/aran weight and double knitting yarn

but that seems harder to source. Plus, that’s gonna take longer than something knitted with Bulky/Chunky yarn, right?!

The Mary Maxim 4ply Northland Wool is discontinued, but I see via the awesome Ravelry that several people in the USA have used Wool of the Andes Bulky for this knit. Here is the gauge and yardage of the original yarn

and here’s the same for the Andes

Here in the UK, I am going to use Re:Treat Roving Chunky, which the fabulous Slipstitch in Muswell Hill stocks. The lovely Rosie Fletcher, who runs Slipstitch, will ORDER IN for you if you want to join the fun, so pop into the shop or get in touch via the website for mail order. Here she is with Charlotte in the shop hidden behind my mountain of Jessica Fletcher Fish Jumper yarn.

I know Rosie is tempted to join in the knitalong, not least because my friends, her sister’s name is Jessica.

Yes, that’s right, Jessica Fletcher.

If you would like to see all the different colourways intrepid knitters have chosen for their Angler’s Pride jumpers, click on this link and behold the splendour! I thought carefully about whether to knit the cardi in the same colours as Jessica’s, but I THINK I have decided to go freestyle. I think I will get more wear out of it if I go for the kind of colours I wear more often.

Here are the colours that are available chez Slipstitch.

After a lovely confab with Rosie, I have settled on Tranquil for the main colour

with the fish in Purpose

and the waves in Mellow. What do you think chums?

If some other folks are planning to knit one of these for themselves, LOVELY, the more the merrier. We can keep ourselves chivvied up to keep going!

I will do updates on my progress each month, and if anyone else wants to join in, maybe we can give each other moral support and do some KNITALONGAMURDERSHEWROTE sessions. We can all sit and watch the same episode at the same time wherever we are in the world and click clack away on our sofas.

Haha - I feel a Sunday evening event coming on…

Spread the word to all the Murder, She Wrote fans you know who might be a knitter. Not a knitter? Use pester power on your knitting friends or family!