Traditional Scandinavian motifs worked in bold, bright colors—the combination borrowed from a man’s runway cardigan—decorate Pam Allen’s Nordic-inspired capelet. Pam works the capelet in the round from the lower edge to the shoulders, then she divides the front and back and works them separately in rows to shape the upper body. After seaming the shoulders, Pam picks up stitches for a funnel collar worked in the round and finished off with a splash of red. If you’ve never tried Fair Isle color work, this project is a good place to begin—most motifs repeat over a small number of stitches so they are easy to memorize, and more importantly, there are never more than two colors in a row.
44" (112 cm) circumference at lower edge, 18" (45.5 cm) circumference at neck edge, and 14" (35.5 cm) long.
About 220 yd (201 m) each of 6 colors of worsted-weight (Medium #4) yarn.
We used: Cascade Yarns Cascade 220 (100% wool; 220 yd [201 m]/100 g): #9459 brown, #8010 off-white, #2404 blue, #4147 yellow, #8895 red, and #9460 light green, 1 ball each.
Body—Size 7 (4.5 mm): 24" (60-cm) circular (cir). Ribbing—Size 6 (4 mm): 24" (60-cm) cir. Collar—Size 8 (5 mm): 16" (40-cm) cir. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain correct gauge.
Markers (m); stitch holders; tapestry needle.
20½ sts and 25 rows = 4" (10 cm) in charted Fair Isle patt on size 7 (4.5 mm) needles.
Download the chart for this project here.
With brown and size 6 (4 mm) needle, CO 224 sts. Place marker (pm) to denote one side seam and join for working in the rnd, being careful not to twist sts. Next rnd: Work 112 sts in k1, p1 rib, pm to denote other side seam, work to end in rib. Cont in established rib for 4 more rnds. Change to size 7 (4.5 mm) needle. Knit 1 rnd off-white, then knit 1 rnd brown. Set up chart: Work Rnd 1 of Fair Isle chart (see page 63) across 112 sts of front, slip marker (sl m), then work Rnd 1 of chart again across 112 sts of back. Work Rnds 2–74 of chart (working decs as indicated on chart)—148 sts rem; 74 sts each for front and back.
Look through pattern books and magazines (especially vintage ones) to get ideas for pattern motifs and color combinations.
Divide for front and back: (Row 75 of chart) BO 2 sts, work as charted to m, place rem 74 sts for back on holder to work later—72 sts rem for front.
Front: Cont on front sts only, working patt from chart back and forth in rows. Next row: (WS; Row 76 of chart) BO 2 sts, work as charted to end—70 sts rem.
Shape shoulders: Cont in patt from chart, BO 3 sts at beg of next 2 rows, then BO 4 sts at beg of next 4 rows—48 sts rem. Work even until Row 83 of chart has been completed. Place sts on holder.
Back: Return 74 held back sts to size 7 (4.5 mm) needle and join yarn ready to work a RS row. BO 2 sts at beg of next 2 rows (Rows 75 and 76 of chart)—70 sts rem. Complete as for front—48 sts rem. Place sts on holder.
Lightly steam-block on WS. With yarn threaded on a tapestry needle, sew shoulder seams.
Collar: Beg at one shoulder seam, place 96 held neck sts onto size 8 (5 mm) cir needle. Pm and join. With brown, knit every rnd until collar measures 3¼" (8.5 cm) from pick-up rnd. Change to red and knit 2 rnds. Loosely BO all sts. Lightly steam-block collar. Weave in loose ends.
