Toronto Blue Jays playoffs sweater

I wanted a big knitting project to work on as I follow my beloved Blue Jays during the 2025 MLB Postseason – so I designed this bright and busy, retro-style Fair Isle concept. I'm knitting the sweater shape freestyle, but may write up the pattern if I am able to grade to different sizes (not my strength). Here is the rough idea:

The rule is I can only knit on game days. Hopefully the Jays have a good run and I finish the sweater as they win the World Series – a walk off knit (COULD YOU IMAGINE!)

I cast this on during the Game 4 win against the Yankees and got to the below:

Here are the grids I am using for the baseball and logo (also a test swatch below). You're welcome to use them on your own projects – I imagine they would also work well on a scarf, pair of mittens or hat :)

I'd love to see your work – tag me on Instagram @karlacourtney if you share it there! I am also sharing my progress on IG and have created this group for anyone who wants to knit along or follow more closely.

THE BACKSTORY:

As a kid watching Otis Nixon bunt for the out in ’92 and Joe Carter hit the walk-off in ’93 to deliver back-to-back World Series wins, my fate as a Jays fan was sealed. I had the same MLB bedsheets as George Costanza, a huge JAYS OF THUNDER poster over my desk, and a “Class of 1992” Jays soundtrack tape I played until it shredded.

Flash forward to 2025: I’m 44, based in the UK with my husband and our 15-year-old, living overseas since 2004. But from across the Atlantic, something about this year’s team felt really special — spirit, positivity, connection — and those BATS. That DEFENSE. Those ARMS. A team with energy I could feel across an ocean. When I was in Toronto in August, I told everyone: when they make the Series, I’m coming home.

Because of the time difference I survived mostly on highlights during the regular season, but for the playoffs I stayed up for every pitch (those 12am/1am starts were brutal but worth it - Vladi is especially good at keeping the vibes up). I cast on a "playoffs sweater" during game 4 against the Yankees as a project that had momentum – something that would take me a full series run to finish. The rule was that I could only knit on game days and hopefully the Jays would go far enough to help me finish it. I created some free knitting grids and shared them online for other knitters to use on their own projects and just kept knitting.

When they lost Game 5 in Seattle and were coming home, I wanted to come home, too. So I stayed true to my word and got on a plane from London Heathrow the morning of Game 6 and was in the Dome with my sweater by nightfall. After that win, I decided well I came all this way so I am going back (will deal with the financial fallout later) and a good friend from high school managed to get us tickets (thank you Vik!) We were up in 514 and after a scoreless sixth the whole section went flat — especially a group of young guys behind me. I turned around and told them, “You have one job right now: GOOD VIBES ONLY.” That flipped a switch. They started chanting “GVO! GVO!” and the entire row lifted. I was standing and knitting and wiggling; they were shouting their lungs out — right up until the Springer Dinger. It was EPIC. To be even a small part of this run has been an honour — for the Jays, for Toronto, for the country. More good vibes, always.

Here's how I shared the story live with CTV in Toronto the day after Game 7: