Saturday, March 21, 2009

Green Cabled Yoke Pullover

This one was one of those designs you fall in love at first sight: fabulous folds created by cabling, and yet, very simple in construction. It involves rectangle pieces for the body and yoke, and trapezoid sleeves. Looks more than that on the photo. I thought the yarn ought to be soft but not flimsy to show off the beautiful folds of the yoke. I knew I did not have such a perfect yarn in my stash and I was looking for one. At my LYS, I saw a swatch of a very fluffy looking yarn, CEY Lush. It was just perfect for the project I thought. It is a lover yarn with 50% angora and 50% wool.

Cables yoke has two rectangles, one narrower and longer than the other to be placed right above the bodice and the wider and shorter one to go on top of the narrower one. The original garment has a turtle neck above the yoke. It looks fine on the model, but I thought I would not like it with angora/wool yarn. It will choke me. After finishing the cabled pieces, I went ahead and completed the yoke to try on. The yoke looked a bit different depending on where you place the shoulder points along the cabled strip. I liked it when the crossing hit the shoulder points. For the neck edge, I picked up about 25% more stitches than the pattern, knit one round, purl one round, and cast off purl-wise very loosely.

For the body, I wanted the front edge to dip a bit more than the back and started by picking up stitches from the back yoke only, leaving front yoke and sleeve sections. Also, when I tried on the yoke, it felt too small to go around my body and arms comfortably. So, I decided to add underarm stitches as I knitted the back body. I could have made more difference in the front and back bodice lengths but that will be for the next version, if at all. It looks okay as it is for now. Now, the sleeves, or no sleeves? My knitting friends at Knitsmith were all saying I should just do without sleeves. I agree that it is very elegant that way. However, it is less likely to be worn without sleeves than with them, and I decided to knit sleeves after all.

9 comments:

  1. Absolutely stunning! And it's great with or without sleeves.

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  2. Gorgeous sweater.

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  3. May, it's gorgeous. Those cables are so perfectly "draped". Even my husband agreed it was cool (and that never happens!) Really amazing - and so different. I love it! Enjoy wearing this one and accepting lots of compliments....

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  4. a masterpiece, may!
    perfectly done (as usual), and the color looks great! ^-^

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  5. Anonymous7:46 PM

    May, Miguel Ángel provided me you blog address. It has been great to see your wonderful knitting work. My congratulations for your designs and sensitivity. I am really amazed that an economist can combine musical colors and fashionable forms in a so creative way.
    Also a great hello! to Ana since this blog has made possible to see a pic of you.

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  6. I saw this on your Ravelry projects and fell in love! It's so gorgeous, and I really like your version the best. Now I'm looking for that pattern book...

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  7. OMG! That is stunning.
    How can I get this pattern? I'm not sure if you're referring to a Japanese style pattern book available for purchase or one written in Japanese (which would only leave me with green eyes).
    Marvelous work. Congrats

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  8. Thanks, Flying Pen!

    The pattern is from this book:
    http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4277114016
    ISBN-10: 4277114016 ISBN-13: 978-4277114011
    It is in Japanese, I am afraid. Furthermore, the publisher is going out of business if not already. So, I would recommend purchasing a copy as soon as possible.

    Good luck!

    May

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  9. Aw shucks. Well thx anyway :o)
    Happy knitting

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