How excited am I to share this with you? Pretty damn excited.
Pattern: Adelina
Yarn: Rowan Calmer, in coffee bean and… purple.
Time Elapsed: A couple of weeks. Most of this (all but the collar) was done during the knitting olympics this year. Then the collar waited while I designed and knit Hootenanny. *cough*
Pattern Notes: This fitted V-neck sweater has a bold stripe of color to give it a modern, figure-flattering edge. The sweater is knit flat in pieces, with two options for sleeve length. The sleeves and hem are done with fairly deep 1×1 rib. Vertical darts, also known as princess seams, are used for shaping. The color stripe from the front is continued horizontally around the hips and at the square neckline on the back, but not vertically. The vertical stripe on the front is accomplished via intarsia.
(All images in this page copyright splityarn. She’s awesome.)
The color combination of the stripe and main color can be adjusted to flatter a variety of body types. Those who are bustier on top and have slim hips should choose a trim color brighter than the main body. Bottom-heavy shapes should do it the other way around, with a darker stripe. Those in between can keep the brightness of the two colors the same and play with hues.
Princess seams allow for extremely flexible shaping, customized to fit your body. Should you desire less waist shaping than specified, you can either omit the shaping rows entirely, or omit only the shaping on the front of the sweater. Omitting only the front shaping (or using a smaller amount of shaping on the front) can provide a very nice fit on the small of the back without stretching the sweater too tight in the waist. Bustier women can accommodate their needs by performing more increases on the front of the sweater, and not in the back. This creates vertical bust darts that are exceedingly flattering. The extra stitches increased can be decreased into the neckline, preferably outside the color stripe.
I’ve written it up in 7 sizes, from 32″ to 50″ in the bust. I think it looks best with 0″ ease in the bust, and 1-2″ positive ease in the waist. In the pictures, I’m wearing the sweater with 0″ ease in the bust and about 2″ of positive ease in the waist.
One of my favorite elements about this sweater is the modern, squared shape of the back neck colorwork.
The crisp lines continue on the front, where the shaping allows the colorwork to gracefully part around the V-neckline.
Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with the way this turned out. I hope you like it too! You may purchase it for US$6.00 from within ravelry or on this page.
Amy Herzog Designs