A Cabled Sweater to Span the Seasons

I know it’s only July as I write this, and there is a lot more summer to come in the Northern Hemisphere, but I’m already starting to think about knitting for fall. For one thing, it takes a little while to knit a sweater, and if you want to have it done when the season is right to wear it, you need to start knitting early.

Also, the things we knit for the fall or spring are often called “transition” pieces for a reason; you can wear them now when it’s cool in the evening or there’s a little too much air conditioning, and for a longer part of the day later in the year.

When it comes to All That Brass from Fatimah Hinds, I don’t know why you’d want to wait to cast on this beauty. It’s a top down raglan cardigan with two sets of cables running down the fronts. It’s worked to a slightly cropped length (though you know by now you can change that if you want, right?) and three quarter sleeves, perfect for those days when you need a little warmth but maybe not a full length sweater.

It has a scoop neck and a full set up buttons so you can wear it as open or closed as you like.

It would be as great over a sun dress or tank top as paired with a T-shirt, jeans and boots.

The pattern comes in nine sizes, with an actual measurement of 32 to 64 inches in the bust (or 81 to 162.5 cm). You can choose how much ease you like but it’s shown modeled with 2 inches/10 cm of positive ease, which sounds good if you’re going to wear something light under it. It was worked with two strands of fingering weight yarn held together, or you can use a single strand of DK weight to get gauge.

The pattern is available on Ravelry.

[Photo: Fatimah Hinds]

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I know knitting a dress sounds like a major time commitment. And that’s before I even tell you that this particular dress, the Sixth Ave Skater Dress by Briana Luppino, is worked in light fingering weight yarn.

But would you just take a moment to look at it and tell me if it doesn’t look like it would be worth all the time you would spend knitting it? And it’s miles of stockinette stitch so it’s actually beginner friendly and a great semi-mindless knit you can take with you on your travels this summer and wear when it is done.

The dress is worked from the top down with tank straps, a scoop neck, waist shaping and a flowy skirt for a fun and comfortable fit.

The pattern has 10 sizes, with finished bust measurements ranging from 28 to 64 inches, or 71.5 to 163 cm. The sample shown was worked with 4 inches/10 cm of negative ease at the bust, and the designer says most people like between 2 and 6 inches/5 to 15 cm of negative ease in the bust and around 10 inches/25.4 cm positive ease in the hips.

(To refresh your memory, negative ease means the measurement of the garment is smaller than your actual body measurement, while positive ease is bigger than your body.)

To pick a size you’d work from the bust measurement because you can always add more or fewer decreases as you need to get your desired fit at the waist and hips. And because it’s worked from the top down you can try it on as often as you like to make sure it’s the perfect fit.

The I-cord edgings give the dress a super casual feel, and I think this would be a great one to add to your summer rotation. (Yes, even with a wool blend yarn.)

You can see lots of cute finished versions and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself on Ravelry.

[Photo: Briana Luppino]

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