Sunday, April 19, 2009

Harriet pattern now available!



I'm sure no one was holding their breath, but in case you were, you can let it out now: I've just posted the pattern for the Harriet cardigan for sale in my Ravelry store. The published version covers a range of sizes from 30-54" bust, and includes instructions for making the sweater with or without the contrasting collar (without, it's a simple v-neck). What's of greater interest, perhaps, are the additional instructions for customizing the fit to avoid the giant-armholes problem that's frequently encountered in top-down raglan sweaters, especially in larger sizes. As you can (kind of) see from the image below (which is less nice than the image above, because the image above was taken by my more-talented friend Stephanie Gage, while I took the other one), it has a smooth, snug fit at the underarm in all sizes.


It's a simple enough trick--it just involves tweaking where and how often the increases are worked for the sleeves and front/back--but I think it gives great results, and might make the top-down raglan a much more successful style for people whose upper-arm and chest proportions differ from the so-called average. Since publishing Decimal, I've gotten a lot of comments indicating that this is a major area of concern--not just for larger knitters, but for anyone who has thinner arms/thicker torso or vice versa--so I want to emphasize that this pattern is designed with a great deal of care to maintain proportions and fit across the entire range of sizes. It's a classic silhouette that should be flattering and very wearable on everyone.

Hope y'all like it!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Myrtle


Another one is off the needles! This lace cardigan--named Myrtle for the usual reason, as well as for the crape myrtle trees that will start to blossom around here soon, and in honor of a friend's recently deceased cat--is worked from the bottom up in a fingering weight merino from Cherry Tree Hill, with set-in sleeves that are joined at the underarms and worked along with the upper body and shoulders for minimal finishing.

Unfortunately, the version shown here is most definitely a prototype. It's got about a million mistakes in it that will need to be corrected before a publishable version of the pattern will be ready. But I do love the color--Nantucket Red--and the dayflower lace pattern (which I first saw here, thanks to one of my professors)...