Welcome spring and welcome Rhyllis, my new cabled pullover from Brooklyn Tweed! Rhyllis is worked in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter (or Tones!) and features thick, sculptural stitch patterns and saddle shoulders. I’m thrilled to be included in Brooklyn Tweed’s “Homewear” pattern collection for spring. And better still…thrilled to be part of a fabulous bundle of patterns along with Bresson, Cormel and Wyke.
Home: a place for celebrations large and small; the simple joy of bringing forth a treasured handknit from its resting place and reminiscing on seasons past. Rhyllis is the beloved companion that you wear with everything, from jeans to flannel pajamas. Warm and lightweight in woolen-spun Shelter or Tones, the trim saddle shoulders and cozy folded collar are accentuated by hearty moss stitch and cables with vintage appeal in a thoroughly modern top-down, seamless construction.
The Inspiration
Remember that fisherman’s knit sweater you bought at a thrift store your first year in college? I do! I remember that it was thick and scratchy, slightly felted and warm enough to wear as a coat on milder days. I remember how it smelled and that it was probably made with great love by someone’s grandmother. Rhyllis, my new cabled pullover, is that sweater.
Though it is softer and lighter, Rhyllis is still warm and enveloping, durable and perfect with everything from a pleated skirt to your jammies. Vintage cabling and double moss texture are highlighted by slick saddle shoulder shaping. A circular motif is echoed in ropey textured ovals, twisted ellipses and honeycomb panels. The pullover is edged all round in 1×1 ribbing and features a hemmed crew neck.
The Stitches
The world of knitting is so chock-full of cable motifs these days that it’s difficult to choose just a few! I find that it comes down to movement. Cables are really living things that shift and flow along the fabric’s surface. For my new cabled pullover, I wanted to establish a rhythm of circular motion. I chose three cables with strong graphic qualities and combined them with traditional moss stitch.
The result is a fabric that is engaging, yet intuitive to knit especially when worked in glorious woolen spun yarn.
The Form
This new cabled pullover is worked seamlessly from the top down beginning with the shoulder saddles. I love working with saddle shoulders because they create a lively space for cable panels along the top of the sleeve. Stitches are picked up from the saddles for the front and back, which are worked flat separately to the underarm. This is where the “main event” cables begin to show themselves.
Rhyllis is then joined and worked circularly to the bottom hem. Stitches for the sleeves are picked up from the armholes and joined with live saddle stitches. The caps are worked flat using short-row shaping. An optional tubular bind off makes for trim, tailored edges. The ribbed neckband is picked up and worked circularly, then folded over and sewn to the pick-up round.
The Yarn
What can I say about Shelter? It is light and airy and shows cabled stitches in their very best light. It shows off subtle color palettes to perfection. It is durable, luxurious to knit and to wear. And Tones? Oh my goodness, the color! I am currently see-sawing between Melba and Lychee for my next BT project.
The Team
Working with Brooklyn Tweed is such a dream. The design process has a beautiful structure from the initial call to the final pdf’s. Gorgeous photography, typesetting and graphics are all part of the plan.
I want to thank the talented knitters who have fueled this project. Two of these amazing people are Tipsy Knitters Natasha and Ulana who generously worked with me on Rhyllis from the ground up. To you and all the test and sample knitters, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your expertise with me.
I know it’s tough, but I hope you’ll be able to choose a color!
