I have waited quite a long time to write this post, but finally I can say it: the pattern I have been working on since last summer is published!
It all started out as many of my patterns do.. I wanted to do some experiments on yoke/shoulder/sleeve construction and was determined to find a solution that allows for a top-down construction with a tailored, well fitting look and feel!
Especially the contiguous shoulder construction (an ingenious idea developed by Suzie Myers) intrigued me... I have done some garments with it and I liked the clean and well-cut shoulder it produced, but I had some issues with the way the fabric accumulated next to the sleeve and the narrow sleeve-cap that did not really adapt to the natural shape of the shoulder in my opinion (and I didn't find it as comfortable when worn as with a raglan for example).
I thought about all the other construction methods I knew for top-down knitting and I tried to combine all of the parts I liked about them... and I before I knew it I got a yoke that was something like a mesh up of contiguous, raglan, saddle and set-in sleeve... all in one!
This sounds actually quite horrible, but I was very pleased with the "combination" yoke construction that I finally ended up with!
I thought about all the other construction methods I knew for top-down knitting and I tried to combine all of the parts I liked about them... and I before I knew it I got a yoke that was something like a mesh up of contiguous, raglan, saddle and set-in sleeve... all in one!
This sounds actually quite horrible, but I was very pleased with the "combination" yoke construction that I finally ended up with!
 | Since I used different parts of various techniques for top-down yoke construction, the connection between the shoulder and the sleeve is happening in a natural flowing line and the resulting sleeve cap is rounded and therefore leaves more room for the connection of the shoulder and the upper arm. |
So I started to write this pattern and I can tell you that it is not easy to grade a pattern in different sizes when you have just thrown together different construction-parts, since there are no complete references to consult....
... I almost gave up on it, but I got so many lovely comments on my project page on ravelry that encouraged me to give it another try!
The pattern I ended up with was quite advanced naturally - so I wrote a completely different yoke construction (this time a saddled raglan yoke) for a separate version of the same cardigan, so as to make this pattern accessible to intermediate knitters, too.
... I almost gave up on it, but I got so many lovely comments on my project page on ravelry that encouraged me to give it another try!
The pattern I ended up with was quite advanced naturally - so I wrote a completely different yoke construction (this time a saddled raglan yoke) for a separate version of the same cardigan, so as to make this pattern accessible to intermediate knitters, too.
After almost 6 months, 2 pattern PDF's, 2 tech-editors (that I almost killed with my constant emails) and around 20 marvellous testers this huge project found it's way into the ravelry data-base today!!!
With all this talk about the yoke construction I forgot to add that I had a blast designing the rest of the cardigan! It features a rounded, longer back, slip stitch patterns on the hem and on the top of the sleeves ...and POCKETS!
| ...as you can see, I could not resist to put some playful accents to the lining of the pockets, just for the fun of it! |  |
You can find the pattern for this cardigan (both yoke versions are included in the download in separate PDFs) on ravelry or you can buy it directly from my site here.
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