ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

Shepherd Waistcoat – cream and white free form knitting in a unisex piece

This piece was created with an idea of the organic shape – growing and changing by the changes in my stitches. I gathered all my whites and creams together – and there were quite a few. Some were knitted as is, and some were knitted with two or three strands to make up the required yarn thickness to more or less match in tension.

The knitting stitches include garter, loop, stockinette, Yarn overs, drop stitch, rib, etc to create the organic shape but still keep the stitch numbers overall correct to the pattern. I did increse my stitches strategically and then remember to decrease them again to add some of the curves into the knitting. The yarns and stitches were generally changed on a whim – as I created and viewed the piece while I was knitting it in one piece from the bottom.

I used a basic waistcoat pattern and then I played.

You can do that as well – give yourself permission to play with yarn and stitches and see just what transpires. The trick is to maintain the stitch count and not have stitches that will make the piece wider where the armholes should be. There can be freedom there as well – but you do want a reasonably normal area around the arms. The front has a V shape on one side and the other went straight up to a more rounded neck line – but the shoulders had the same stitch count for the 3 needle cast off.

Click through to the Etsy listing here

more photos of the Shepherd Waistcoat on Facebook

I will not provide a pattern for the piece as it is a truly free form creation.

I created a series of Jackets – sleeveless and with sleeves for the “Colour Play” exhibition in late 2007. I have had requests for the pattern without sleeves, and I will write the pattern and make it available for purchase. My personal knitting shorthand is not easily understood by others. I have been asked to provide this pattern in Danish (possible), and in Norwegian (may not be so easy).

These jackets were all created from the one basic pattern – more or less. The body of each jacket is knitted in one piece from the bottom edge, including the shawl collar to the shoulders. The basic pattern will be produced in English, Danish and maybe Norwegian.

More photos in my Jacket album on Facebook You will be able to see the various well shaped even fitting jackets or waistcoasts that I created, including more photos of the Blokes Smoking (not a PC name, I know) jacket, which is not fitting at all, but it did develop from the same basic pattern idea. I will create the Smoking Jacket pattern separately as it is quite different – even though the base was the same. It was called the smoking jacket because it was a bit of decadence, a mohair jacket for a man.

I am not sure yet, but I might redo the pattern in double knit (8 ply) as well as in the original bulky (12ply) creation. The originals were each knitted with 2 yarns together, most in very simple Intarsia.

The cuddly, lushious, almost opulent (maybe the words are too much for a blokes jacket – but it seemed to me to be all of these things) Smoking Jacket, is actually knitted in stripes and rib. The stripes are loose – the jacket is knitted in rib – which swaps direction at a colour change in one of the yarns as well as being striped with another yarn colour change. I might need to be more formal with that option as well.

Anyway you get the idea – the pattern will be knitted from the bottom, it will be in one piece including the shawl collar. I will create a pattern for the bulky (12ply) option first, and then I may well redo it in 8ply or DK – depending on interest. So if you have an opinion — do let me know please. Either in facebook or here, thanks.

This piece was created for my Colour Play Exhibition held in Auckland at the Randolph Street Gallery, at Whitecliffe School of Fine Arts and Design in 2007.

There were, and still are many purple yarns in my stash. I created this sweater using mohair, and many other yarns that knitted at a similar tension. I do not have a pattern for the sweater or for the intarsia design on it – it is knitted in free form.

It was created from the waistband which I knitted in the round. I then knitted the front and the back at the same time up to the shoulders – (back and forth not circularly).

This enabled me to continue the colours at the sides so that when stitched together the design wrapped around and it reduced the effect of the side seam. The shoulders were bound off with a 3 needle cast off. The neck band was originally a rib knitted in the round. I ripped that out and knitted a semi cowl collar in stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch. I liked it so much I ripped out the waist band and knitted the new waistband down using the same yarns and stitches as at the neck. The cuffs were knitted down from the sleeve in rib.

I have knitted many sweaters in this way, with free form intarsia on a knitted shape. This is the first where I have removed the original neckline and waistline ribs and replaced them with stocking stich and reverse stocking stitch finish.

The owner of it loves it.