Helix Pullover is a Fun Knit for Summer

I love Jessie Maed Designs and have shared a lot of their patterns over the years, but I somehow missed this one from last summer so I wanted to share it with you now.

The Helix Pullover is a top down crewneck with dropped shoulders and an allover ribbed lace pattern.

The stockinette panels give the design structure, while the eyelet sections make it super breathable and comfortable to wear, even as a long-sleeved shirt, even when it’s hot outside (there is a short-sleeved option, too, if you prefer).

It’s worked with sport weight yarn and is designed to have 1.5 to 7.5 inches, or 4-19 cm of positive ease, though you can pick a size that has more or less ease depending on your preference. It’s also designed to be cropped but you could make it longer if you wanted.

There are nine sizes available with an actual chest measurement (of the garment) ranging from 31.5 to 67.5 inches (80 to 171.5 cm), which means it fits up to a 60 inch/152.5 cm chest.

The intent is to have a ’70s vibe, so pull out your bright neon colors for this one and make it perfect for the beach or wearing over a sun dress. Or you can down it down with more neutral colors and use it as an everyday accessory when you want your outfit to be a little more interesting.

However you make it, you can find the pattern on Ravelry. I feel like I’m always suggesting you look through the finished projects, but you’ll find some great ones here, from a sleeveless long coverup to short sleeved, three-quarter sleeved and long sleeve versions, in all sorts of colors and a variety of ease choices as well. If you know Jessie Maed patterns you know this one is pretty much universally flattering no matter what options you choose.

[Photo: Jessie Maed Designs]

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

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