Knit a Jumper with Shetland Style

As I sat down to write about the Soorik pattern from Gudrun Johnston, the word “jumper” sprang to mind, though I doubt the designer would call this little dress a jumper. Where they live a jumper is no doubt what I would call a sweater in the States, but I don’t know what a more correct word for this design would be. I guess dress would work!

Whatever you want to call it, it’s a lovely little design with classic Shetland colorwork motifs on the bodice front and back as well as on the patch pockets. It calls for fingering weight yarn in five colors and is worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked completely in the round so you will have some steeks to contend with, but that just adds to the fun.

It comes in eight sizes, and measures from the under bust ranging from 32.25 to 58.25 inches, or 82 to 148 cm. It’s designed to have 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) of positive ease in that area.

This looks like a lovely everyday dress to wear over leggings and a long-sleeved shirt when it’s cold out, or over a flowy lightweight shirt in the summer.

What’s really cool about this pattern (which is available on Ravelry) is that it’s part of Gudrun’s collection of patterns from The Shetland Trader, her mother’s made-to-order knitwear business. This pattern is part of her third collection from The Shetland Trader; this one has 11 patterns inspired by garments her mother made in the 1970s. (You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.)

You can purchase the individual patterns or the full digital ebook on Ravelry or buy a print book from pompom magazine. (They are winding down production this year so I don’t know how long printed books will be available.)

I love the idea of knitting these patterns that preserve the history of knitting in Gudrun’s family and in Shetland more generally, and this is just one of a series of collections she’s done, so if you like the idea you should check out her other collections, too.

[Photo: Ali Denney]

Knit a Dress without Knitting a Swatch

Knit Your Own Little Black Dress (Or Whatever Color You Want)

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This swirly square stitch knitting pattern from Studio Knit is a lot of fun, and it looks kind of complicated without being difficult at all.

The swirly nature of the block comes from regularly placed increases, as the pattern is worked in rounds from the center out. Switching between sections of all knit stitches and all purl stitches (which gives you stockinette and reverse stockinette respectively when worked in the round) adds to the off-kilter flair but makes it really easy to knit.

You can work it in a single color or change colors regularly. This isn’t really a change colors randomly kind of pattern just because it looks better if you work a full repeat in a single color, but you know there are no rules so you can do whatever you want.

You can also make it any size you like, and indeed use any yarn you want. This one is blanket sized and used five colors of worsted weight yarn, but you can use any yarn and corresponding needles (you’ll need double pointed needles and circulars of various lengths, depending on how big you want to make your square).

For a start, why not grab some cotton yarn and stitch up a swirly washcloth? You could still use a couple of colors if you want, jsut for fun.

Once you try that, you’ll probably want to make a bigger version, and you could definitely use more colors than Kristen did (or just one color if you prefer), you just need to make sure you change colors at the beginning of the pattern repeat to keep everything looking good.

If you’re ready to start (and I know I am!) you can grab the free pattern and check out a video to help you get started at Studio Knit.

[Photo: Studio Knit]

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