Release of the Lilli Camisole and the Angel Sweater

Hello my dear knitting friends,

Finally, the time has come - my last summer design for this year is ready:

The Lilli Camisole is a breezy summer top perfect for those especially hot days. It is knitted with Tynn Line from Sandnes Garn. I’ve truly fallen in love with this yarn, and it has quickly taken the throne as my favorite summer yarn. However, it does have some peculiarities, but more on that in a moment.

After the test knit of my first design (the Belle Tank Top) went off without a hitch, I was eagerly looking forward to the Lilli Camisole. Now, as a designer, you naturally knit what you personally like. I love beautiful details, so I couldn’t resist incorporating some more advanced techniques into my design. It quickly became clear that this knitting pattern is not suitable for beginners.

Let me share a little insider information. For a designer, selecting test knitters is one of the more challenging tasks. It's particularly important in a test knit that the knitter’s gauge matches exactly, in order to properly assess the fit of the garment. And I made this a bit difficult for myself. The combination of the yarn choice, a lace pattern, and a form-fitting design made it very challenging for the test knitters to meet this crucial point.

Cotton yarns stretch significantly more than wool, and a lace pattern amplifies this effect. This requires a more aggressive blocking of the swatch. Many of you rightly wonder what exactly it means when patterns talk about "washing and blocking." I think it’s important that the designer explains this in more detail. Blocking isn’t just blocking. I found that many of my test knitters didn’t block their swatches enough, or didn’t count the stitches correctly. This can indeed be confusing with a lace pattern. This is not meant as criticism of my test knitters; rather, it tells me that I need to provide more information. Since all the testers were experienced knitters, I assumed certain things. But when it comes to the crucial topic of swatching, I failed to provide enough guidance.

Another issue was that an unusually high number of knitters knit more loosely in the round. This also led to some tops becoming too wide. I still wonder whether this is mainly due to the small needle size used for this top, or whether it simply isn’t as noticeable in other knitting projects when the round is a bit looser. But in this design, it turns a figure-flattering piece into a sack. And that, of course, is frustrating—not just for me, but also for the test knitters. So, I’ve added a note to the pattern. Will any of you knit an extra swatch in the round? I doubt it. But you can simply go down a needle size if you notice this phenomenon occurring for you.

Ultimately, this is exactly what test knitting is for. And I will certainly do some things differently in my next one. Speaking of which, that will be happening in the not-too-distant future. The #angelsweater is still a work in progress, but I’m currently planning for September. And I’m especially excited about this design because the yarn combination is a dream. I fell in love at the Woolfest in Kassel with the ultra-soft blend of Angel 400 and Angel Lace (70% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere). The wonderful Alex from Wool&Forest created the “mauve” colorway, and I still believe it should really be called “Marie” because it feels made for me. 😃

I’ve heard that V-necks will be in fashion this fall season. But that’s not the reason for my design choice. In my opinion, beautiful V-necks are vastly underrepresented in the knitting world. However, there will also be an option for a crew neck.

What’s special about this design is the shoulder construction. Here, I’m working with the Contiguous method by Susie Myers. This is similar to a raglan construction, knitted seamlessly from the top down. However, it better mimics the body’s natural shape, resulting in a fantastic fit. I’m combining this with a saddle shoulder. The great thing about this method is that the sleeve cap is automatically formed through the combination of different increase sequences. In the end, you get a set-in sleeve construction without needing to work the sleeve with short rows. Not that I have a problem with short rows, but I know many of you are a bit hesitant about them. However, they really aren’t difficult to knit. But that’s a topic for another time.😊

Best wishes,

Marie from mabelle knitting