In the fall it's hard to regulate the temperature in my house. The front of our home faces south and warms up quickly with the lower angle of the sun. The back of our house and the lower living level is much cooler. For this reason, I'm a big fan of capelets and ponchos. With no sleeves they are super quick to make and easy to pop on and take off. In my opinion they are perfect pieces for layering, just like the easy folded poncho (or "elegant sweatshirt" as the folks from Churchmouse Studios call it) which I often wear over a collared cotton shirt and my favourite jeans or my knitted Tavia, a pleated skirt, I knit with a pattern by Ann Budd.
I designed the Tapers & Tucks Capelet to be knit on a flat bed mid-gauge knitting machine. It's worked in two identical pieces, front and back, and seamed at the shoulders. It starts at the bottom with the placement of the tuck stitches. As the knitting progresses, there are decrease rows that form the shaping of the pieces. The pattern calls for a hand knit ribbed neckline, but that's optional. In this latest version I omitted the ribbing.
Using tuck stitch creates knitted fabric that is wider and shorter than stocking stitch. And when the tuck stitch pattern is separated between stocking stitch sections and stacked vertically, it pulls the fabric upwards and creates soft scalloped edges.
In my latest sample, I held two lace/fingering weight yarns together in a softer taupe shade. The main yarn was Bio Balance by BC Garn, a soft wool cotton which feels cool and soft like a t-shirt fabric. I teamed it with a fine strand of Cabot Trail tencel (in my stash of yarn from Trailhead Yarns & Fibres) which gave the final fabric swatch more shine and sparkle and a closer gauge to the original pattern. I added a few inches to the finished dimension and I'm really enjoying the extra length.
I'm working on the pattern instructions now, getting them ready for publication. Keep an eye on the main page and we'll make sure to put a "new pattern" link right on the front page for you, if you're interested in trying out this design on your knitting machine.
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