This original pattern is ©2002 by Kim Salazar. Please see the copyright note
at the end of the pattern. It was originally shared with the
KnitList - (a knitting-oriented mailing list).
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Introduction
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Last summer I bought some nifty hand-dyed yarn at my local yarn store. I'm a
magpie for color, and this yarn was a nice, playful combo of primaries. The
secondary colors were formed in between the primaries where the dyes met. The
yarn was Cotton Cloud, from Wool in the Woods.
It's a nubbly looking cotton with a nylon binder thread maintaining the texture. It looks a bit like Stars, the new
Classic Elite yarn but behaves entirely differently because Stars' binder thread is
elastic.
Because of the shades of the primaries that the dyer started with, the result wasn't
quite crayon-bright - the green for instance is more of a celadon, the purple is wine-dark,
and there is very little orange because the bright red so quickly overpowers the yellow.
I bought four hanks - all the yarn store had. They matched in colors used, but were
very different in color distribution. The bands of each varying widely in thickness/duration
from skein to skein. The skeins were of close, but not identical circumference, further
skewing the repeats from skein to skein. Each skein did however maintain the same progression.
Blue and yellow were the most prevalent colors in the four, but were not always in the same
proportion skein to skein.
So I had four matching but very different skeins of hand-dyed yarn. Each skein had 200 yards.
The weight was unmarked on each, but together I had about 300g of yarn total as measured by
my imprecise kitchen scale. The manufacturer's gauge marked was 21 stitches for 4 inches
on US 7s (4.5mm).
What do do with this pile of yarn? I worked it out on the fly, as you will see from the method
description below.
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Materials
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I used approximately 800 yards total of Cotton Clouds, a variegated cotton yarn
with a nubbly texture. I used approximately 50 yards (about 22 grams) of Classic Elite Provence,
a worsted weight mercerized cotton yarn for the I-Cord trim.
YOU CAN USE ANY YARN AND NEEDLE SIZE YOU WISH, PROVIDED YOU GAUGE
FIRST AND DO THE MATH ACCORDINGLY.
- US #6 (4mm) straight or circular needle
- two DPNs, US #3
- A small quantity of scrap yarn for the provisional cast-on
- 3 safety pins to mark the sleeve measurement before picking up sleeve stitches
- Three large stitch holders, spare circular needles (any size), or shoelaces to stash hem and
sleeve stitches prior to working the edging
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Swatching
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Well, step one is always to swatch. [grin]
I quickly found that there was no way I could replicate the manufacturer's suggested
gauge. The nubbly texture of the yarn made my stitches leggier and longer because it
didn't move through stitch formation smoothly. Not a big problem, but one that
required (you guessed it!)...
...more swatching.
After ample experimentation, I found I liked the fabric I knit up on US #6 needles
(4mm): 4 stitches per inch, 7.5 rows per inch. It was loose and drapey, but not
transparent. To determine this, I made a relatively large swatch - about 40 stitches
across and knit for about 4 inches.
At 4 stitches per inch, my 800 yards of yarn would be enough to make a sleeveless
shell or possibly even a short-sleeved T-shirt to fit my US womens' size Large.
(I figured this out by looking through patterns on my shelf to see what
yardage they consumed.)
It looked like a shell or T-shirt was an achievable idea, so I went on to think about
what I wanted my yarn to do.
I looked at my big swatch before unravelling it to re-use (with so little yarn to work
with I couldn't afford to let my giant swatch sit idle). I noted the length of the
color stripelets (another reason to make a big one if using a variegated yarn). I
thought about all those horizontals flowing across the piece. Not always a good idea
in my size...
I toyed briefly with working vertically, but abandoned the idea. First, I was not
familiar enough with the yarn and the way it stretches under wear to work with it in
side-to-side knitting (I've had some equivocal experiences doing this in cotton before).
Second, because I knew I was working with a very small quantity of yarn, I wanted to
maximize my options all the way through the piece. If I knit side to side, I'd have
to establish armhole shape very early. I didn't want to do that.
Still wondering how to tone down the horizontal element I opted for bottom-up. I could
start at the bottom and knit to the sleeve area, then assess my yarn consumption and
how much I might have available for sleeves. I could then alter plans and make either
the slightly shaped armholes for a sleeveless top, or do something else for a sleeved
version.
When I had bought the stuff I had known that it would be likely that I would need a
coordinating yarn to eke it out, so I had bought a ball of candy-apple red
Classic Elite Provence at the same time. Thinking I might need more, I went to my
local yarn store again. What I ran into was a happy bit of serendipity.
I saw a sweater that had been knit to display a Noro yarn. It was in wool, worked in
one of the Noro variegateds. Instead of casting on and knitting across the entire
body of the thing, the pattern called for casting on sequentially with about four or
five balls, then knitting these separate balls up the length of the garment intarsia
style in "columns." The variegated yarn's repeat bounced back and forth
inside these narrower columns, and made strong verticals where the columns butted up
against their neighbors.
This was the missing piece! I would do the same thing with my four balls of Cotton
Cloud, adding much needed vertical lines to my piece, and cutting back a bit on the
horizontals that all variegateds form when knit.
I didn't buy more Provence. Instead I ran back home and got working.
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Drafting and Measuring
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Now I needed to know how big to make my top.
A simple shape would work best for this riotous yarn. I grabbed a standard-issue
loose-fit T-shirt from my drawer. I put it on and decided what the absolute minimum
length I could wear was. Since I'm not in the Navel Brigade, it would have to be a bit
longer than something the average buff college student might wear. [grin]
I also determined width and sleeve depth. I subtracted the sleeve depth from my
minimum-acceptable length and got the measurement for how far to knit from the hem
to the bottom of the sleeve.
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Knitting
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Wanting to keep this thing as simple as possible, I decided I'd knit in Intarsia,
in the flat and seam the sides.
I took my T-shirt width measurement (half the T-shirt circumference) and multiplied it
by my gauge, then made sure the result was divisible by four (I rounded up a bit to make
life easier). My piece would be 80 stitches.
Then using waste yarn, I did a provisional cast on for 80 stitches. (I'd deal with the
ribbing or edging later.) I took my working needles and Ball A, and knit for 20
stitches. Then I took Ball B, and knit for another 20. Same for Balls C and D.
I continued in stockinette, purling from Ball D, C, B and A, making sure to twist the
yarns around each other whenever I switched from ball to ball.
My plan worked! The colors bounced nicely back and forth in their separate columns,
with each column having a unique appearance because of the yarn's ball-to-ball
differences.
The thing grew at a nice rate, but I began to worry about yarn consumption and length.
How would I know I would have enough? I decided to weigh the piece to see.
When I got to my target minimum length I hauled out my kitchen scale again and weighed
my finished knitting. I found I had consumed only about 23% or so of my total available
weight, so I kept going. I decided that the part I was working on would be the back,
and that I'd probably have enough for small short sleeves on a drop-sleeve body. I also
decided that I'd keep knitting until I had consumed 40% of my total available yarn. That
should leave 40% for the front, plus 20% for the sleeves.
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The Front
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When I had used up 40% of my yarn, my back was complete. It was about an inch and
a half longer than my target minimum, so I was very happy.
I looked at the piece and decided I'd NOT cast off and begin all over for the front.
Instead, I'd continue the strip so that the color progression would flow up and over
the shoulder without a punctuating seam. But to do this I'd need some sort of
neckline...
I thought about some old tunics I had made. They had a simple T-shaped slit for the
neck. No shaping, just the T-cut. So I cast off the centermost 30 stitches
(15 stitches from Ball B, and 15 stitches from Ball C). On the next row, I cast on
30 stitches (15 from each ball) and continued knitting. But I did NOT twist the yarns
around each other Intarsia-style on the front center where Ball B and C met. That left
a slit down the center front.
I continued knitting with the center front slit until the slit was about 6 inches
long. I tried the piece on several times to make sure it was long enough. When I was
happy with the slit's depth, I went back to twisting the yarns together at the center
front. I knit the back to the same length as the front, then instead of binding off,
slipped all the stitches to a spare circular needle to hold them. Leaving enough tail
to end off neatly later, I snipped my four strands.
I now had a long rectangle with a T-shaped slit in the center. I folded it in half at
the neck/shoulder line and marked the center of each shoulder with a safety pin.
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The Sleeves
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I looked at my remaining yarn. I had the dregs of four balls, each more or less
identical in yardage. That meant two balls per sleeve. I'd could knit up Sleeve #1
from Ball A and B, knowing that I would have enough yarn in C and D to do exactly the
same thing for Sleeve #2.
I retrieved my sleeve depth measurement from my original T-shirt. It was 11 inches.
I measured 11 inches down from my center-of-the shoulder safety pin on both the front
and back of my piece and put in safety pins to mark each place. Knowing that my gauge
was 4 stitches per inch, I picked up 44 stitches between the pin on the back and the
pin at the center of the shoulder. Then I took another ball of yarn and picked up
another 44 between the center of the shoulder and the remaining pin.
I purled back across my new sleeve stitches, taking care to switch to the other ball
of yarn at the center. Then I decided to shape the sleeves to eliminate floppy bulk.
I knit the first stitch, then worked a slip-slip-knit decrease (SSK) and continued
knitting to the sleeve's center. I switched to the other yarn ball and knit to within
3 stitches of the end of the row. I worked a knit two together decrease, and then knit
the remaining stitch.
I continued working in this manner, decreasing one stitch at either end of each right
side knit row, and purling back across until I had 64 stitches left (32 per ball),
then I continued in plain stockinette with no decreases until I ran out of yarn.
I slid the remaining live stitches to a holder.
I worked the other sleeve exactly the same way, with one exception. When I got to the
end I counted the rows to make sure I had the same number of rows in both sleeves.
It turned out I had just a tad less yarn in one of the balls in Sleeve #2, so I ended
up taking out one row of Sleeve #1 to make it match the second one exactly.
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Finishing
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I had only about three yards of my variegated yarn left over after my sleeves.
But I did have sleeves! They measured about 5.25 inches long, but they'd hang lower
than that when worn because of the drop-shoulder construction.
I sewed the side seams, leaving all the stitches at the hem edges live.
How to finish? I decided I didn't want ribbing. It would be too wide. I also wanted
my piece to swing free rather than have the constriction of the ribbed edge. I wanted
something lighter...
I opted for a knit-on I-Cord edging in my candy-apple red Provence.
I slipped all the bottom hem stitches on a circular needle as a holder. This includes
the ones "rescued" from the provisional cast-on edge at the back of the work.
I had to experiment a bit until I found the right size needles for this. I ended up
beginning the edging several times and ripping it out. I settled on two US #3 DPNs for
the I-Cord.
I cast on 4 stitches on one of the DPNs, then knit one row of I-cord plain.
Then I knit the second, but I knit the LAST stitch of the I-cord together with a
stitch of the hem. It took a bit of fiddling, especially at the start, and I soon
discovered that it laid best if I knit the last stitch of the I-cord through the
back of the loop.
I continued working my way around the piece, knitting my I-cord on to my live hem
stitches. To keep the I-cord flat and to avoid puckering the work, I ended up
knitting one row of "plain" I-cord, then two rows each incorporating a
hem stitch. Sometimes I had to throw in an extra row of I-cord in between the two
hem-stitch-using rows. It was a very subjective experience and the ratio of plain
to hem-stitch-using I-cord rows isn't a flat mathematical one I can say will work for
every one every time. You've got to eyeball this step and be prepared to rip out a
row or two of I-cord if you spot any puckering or stretching.
After I went all the way around bottom hem with my applied I-Cord, I grafted the end
of the I-Cord to its beginning to make a (mostly) invisible join.
I then did the sleeves the same way.
To do the neck, first I picked up stitches in my red yarn along the entire edge of the
T-shaped neck slit. I worked the I-cord onto these. I started at the center front,
tapering the I-Cord by knitting only one stitch as the first row, two as the second and
so on until I had all four.
When I got to the 90-degree corner at the top of the slit, I knit "free"
I-Cord for about six rows, first knitting into the same hem stitch that I had last used,
before working the six free rows, then picking up again and working the I-Cord
across the top of the neckline. I did the same when I reached the other 90-degree
angle on the other side of the front neck slit.
When I reached the last four picked-up stitches at the base of the T-slit, I tapered the
I-Cord so that it looked similar to the way it tapered when I began. In this case, on
the third stitch from the end, I knit the last two I-Cord stitches together with the hem
stitch. I repeated this until on the last picked up stitch, I had only one I-Cord stitch
left.
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The Pattern (Short Format)
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Sizes are given for women's large (medium); approximate dress sizes 16-18(12-14);
garment width 44 (42) for a close but not skin-tight fit.
Using scrap yarn, make a crochet chain cast-on 80(72) stitches long. Divide your variegated yarn
into four balls (mine was in four skeins so this was easy). Knit the first 20(18) stitches from Ball A;
knit the next 20(18) stitches from Ball B; the next 20(18) stitches from Ball C; and the final 20(18) stitches
from Ball D. Continue knitting in stockinette, with each ball of yarn used for its own panel until the piece
measures 22(20) inches long, or until you have reached your desired hem to collar length. Make sure that you
twist your yarns around each other Intarsia-style where the columns adjoin. End ready to knit a
right-side row.
Knit the 20(18) stitches of Ball A. Knit 5 stitches of Ball B. Bind off the remaining stitches of Ball B. Leaving
a tail for ending off later, cut the strand from Ball B.
Bind off the first 15 stitches of Ball C. Knit the remaining 5 stitches of Ball C. Knit all stitches of Ball D.
Purl the 20(18) stitches of Ball D. Purl 5 stitches of Ball C. Cast on 15 stitches using the yarn from Ball C.
Cast on 15 stitches using the yarn from Ball B. Purl the remaining 5 stitches of Ball B. Purl all stitches of Ball A.
Continue in the same manner as for the back with this important exception: DO NOT wind the yarns around each
other Intarsia-style in between the panels knit from Ball B and Ball C. This will make the center front slit. Work
until the slit is approximately 5.5 inches long, or until it is as long as you desire. On the next knit-side row,
recommence twisting the yarns around each other Intarsia-style at the center front. Continue knitting the front
in stockinette until when folded along the shoulder line, the front is as long as the back. The entire T-top when measured
from the cast on row should be 44 (40) inches long at this point. Slip all stitches onto
a spare needle, a stitch holder or a shoelace. Leaving enough length to end off neatly later,
break off all yarns.
Determine the center of the shoulder and mark that point with a safety pin. With right side facing, measure down 11 inches along the side edge on
either side of the center point. Mark each with a safety pin. Using Ball A, pick up 44 stitches from the first pin to
the center pin. Using Ball B, pick up 44 stitches from the center pin to the remaining pin. Purl back, using Ball B
for the first 44 stitches, and Ball A for the remaining ones.
Continue knitting the sleeve in this manner, using Ball A and B in side-by-side columns and twisting
the yarns around each other Intarsia-style at the center point until 64 stitches remain:
Right side: K1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches. K2tog, K1.
Wrong side: Purl across the row.
Continue working the sleeve as established until it is roughly 5.25 inches long. Slip all stitches onto
a spare needle, a stitch holder or a shoelace. Leaving enough length to end off neatly later,
break off all yarns. Repeat sleeve process for Sleeve #2, working with the remaining two balls of yarn.
Sew side seams and undearm seams. Starting with the bottom hem, place front stitches now on holder onto a double pointed needle (any size). Reclaim
stitches from provisional cast-on, placing them on the same double pointed needle. Using two single-pointed needles and
contrasting color yarn, work I-cord as described under "Finishing", above. When you have worked the I-cord entirely around the bottom
of the garment's hem, graft the ends of the I-cord together.
Slide the stitches for a sleeve hem onto a double pointed needle. Using the same contrasting color yarn and double pointed needles as before,
work I-cord around the sleeve's hem as described under "Finishing", above. When the sleeve edging is complete, graft the
ends of the I-cord together. Repeat for the second sleeve.
Weave in all ends.
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