In this colorful Folk Art-inspired masterpiece, Nicky Epstein has worked a narrow Fair Isle border along the hem before launching into bold intarsia flowers accented with bobbles and embroidery. The back and fronts are worked separately, the knitted motifs are embellished, and the pieces are seamed along the sides. To give the floral motifs an impressionistic look, Nicky put the finished piece through the cycle in her washing machine. The purchased fur collar adds a touch of aristocratic elegance, but a knitted wool or chenille collar (see page 142), with a pom-pom tie, would work just as nicely.
57" (145 cm) circumference at lower edge, 16" (40.5 cm) circumference at neck, and 12" (30.5 cm) long, after felting.
About 738 yd (675 m) of main color and 82 yd (75 m) each of 12 contrasting colors of sport-weight (Fine #2) yarn.
We used: Jamieson’s Shetland Double Knitting (100% Shetland wool; 82 yd [75 m]/25 g): #123 Oxford gray (MC), 9 skeins; #595 maroon, #580 cherry, #570 sorbet (medium pink), #575 lipstick (dark pink), #550 rose (light pink), #821 rosemary (dark blue-green), #794 eucalyptus (medium blue-green), #769 willow (light blue-green), #231 bracken (dark gold), #815 ivy (medium green), #1140 Granny Smith (light green), and #365 chartreuse, 1 skein each.
Body—Size 7 (4.5 mm). Facing—Size 6 (4 mm). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Tapestry needle; purchased fur or faux-fur collar (optional; collar shown is from Lord & Taylor).
Before felting, 20 sts and 27 rows = 4" (10 cm) in St st on larger needles.
Download the charts for this project here.
Bobble: With larger needles, CO 1 st leaving a 4" (10-cm) tail. ([K1f&b] 2 times, k1) all in CO st—5 sts. Purl 1 row, knit 1 row, purl 1 row. Next row: K2tog, k1, k2tog—3 sts rem. Next row: Sl 1 pwise, p2tog, psso. Cut yarn leaving an 4" (10-cm) tail, and draw through last st to fasten off. Using the tails and a tapestry needle, tie each bobble securely in place.
With MC and smaller needles, CO 68 sts. Beg with a RS (knit) row, work St st for 6 rows, ending with a WS row. Next row: (RS) With medium green, knit. Change to larger needles. Knit 1 WS row for fold line. Work Rows 1–8 of Right Front chart (see page 76). Dec row: (RS; Row 9 of chart) Work as charted to last 4 sts, ssk (see Glossary, page 149), k2—1 st dec’d. Cont as charted for 5 rows. Rep the shaping of the last 6 rows 8 more times, ending with Row 62 of chart—59 sts rem. Rep dec row, then work 3 rows even—58 sts rem. Rep the last 4 rows 4 more times, ending with Row 82 of chart—54 sts rem. Dec 1 st at end of every RS row 4 times, ending with Row 90 of chart—50 sts rem.
Shape neck and shoulders: (RS; Row 91 of chart) BO 9 sts at beg of row, work in patt to last 4 sts, dec 1 st as before—40 sts rem. Note: Side shaping continues at the same time as front neck shaping; read the next section all the way through before proceeding. At neck edge (beg of RS rows) BO 5 sts once, then BO 2 sts twice, then BO 1 st 3 times. at the same time, at side edge, dec 1 st at end of next RS row (Row 93 of chart), then at beg of WS rows BO 2 sts 3 times, 4 sts once, 5 sts once, then 6 sts once, ending with Row 104 of chart—6 sts rem. Work Row 105 of chart. BO all sts.
With MC and smaller needles, CO 68 sts. Beg with a RS (knit) row, work St st for 6 rows, ending with a WS row. Next row: (RS) With medium green, knit. Change to larger needles. Knit 1 WS row for fold line. Work Rows 1–8 of Left Front chart. Dec row: (RS; Row 9 of chart) K2, k2tog, work as charted to end—1 st dec’d. Cont as charted for 5 rows. Rep the shaping of the last 6 rows 8 more times, ending with Row 62 of chart—59 sts rem. Rep dec row, then work 3 rows even—58 sts rem. Rep the last 4 rows 4 more times, ending with Row 82 of chart—54 sts rem. Dec 1 st at beg of every RS row 5 times, ending with Row 91 of chart—49 sts rem.
Shape neck and shoulders: (WS; Row 92 of chart) BO 9 sts at beg of row, work in patt to end—40 sts rem. Note: Side shaping continues at the same time as front neck shaping; read the next section all the way through before proceeding. At neck edge (beg of WS rows) BO 5 sts once, 2 sts twice, then 1 st 3 times. at the same time, at side edge dec 1 st at beg of next RS row (Row 93 of chart), then at beg of RS rows BO 2 sts 3 times, then BO 4 sts once, then BO 5 sts once, then BO 6 sts once, ending with Row 105 of chart—6 sts rem. Work Row 106 of chart. BO rem sts.
With MC and smaller needles, CO 136 sts. Beg with a RS (knit) row, work St st for 6 rows, ending with a WS row. Next row: (RS) With medium green, knit. Change to larger needles. Knit 1 WS row for fold line. Establish patt from charts as foll: (RS) Work Row 1 of Left Front chart over first 68 sts, then work Row 1 of Right Front chart over second 68 sts. Work Rows 1–8 for lower border, interrupting the border patt only for the floral motifs outlined in bright blue. Note: For Rows 9–50, work blue-outlined motifs as shown on charts, and work rem back sts with MC. Dec row: (RS; Row 9 of chart) K2, k2tog, work as charted to last 4 sts, ssk, k2—2 sts dec’d. Cont as charted for 5 rows. Rep the shaping of the last 6 rows 8 more times—118 sts rem. Note: After completing last intarsia motif on Row 50, leave off working from charts and cont in St st with MC across all sts. Rep dec row, then work 3 rows even—116 sts rem. Rep the last 4 rows 4 more times—108 sts rem. Dec 1 st at each end of needle every RS row 6 times, then work 1 WS row even—96 sts rem. Beg with the next row (RS), BO 2 sts at beg of next 6 rows—84 sts rem.
Lightly felt a wool capelet to get a soft, muted texture without changing the dimensions significantly.
Shape neck: Mark center 24 sts for back neck. Next row: (RS) BO 4 sts, work to marked center sts, join new yarn and BO center 24 sts, work to end. On the foll row (WS), BO 4 sts at beg of first group, work even across sts of second group—26 sts at each side. Note: Side shaping continues at the same time as back neck shaping; read the next section all the way through before proceeding. At each neck edge BO 5 sts once, then 4 sts once, and at the same time, at each side edge BO 5 sts once, then BO 6 sts twice.
Weave in loose ends. With yarn threaded on a tapestry needle, sew fronts to back along side seams.
Neckband: With MC, smaller needles, RS facing, and beg at right front opening, pick up and knit 31 sts to right shoulder seam, 40 sts across back neck, and 31 sts from left shoulder seam to left front opening—102 sts total. Work in garter st for 10 rows. BO all sts.
Front bands: With MC, smaller needles, and RS facing, pick up and knit 76 sts along right front edge. Knit 4 rows. BO all sts. Repeat for left front edge. Fold lower edge hem to WS along fold line and sew in place. Steam-press lightly to even out the surface.
Embroidery: With yarn threaded on a tapestry needle, work embroidery as shown on chart (see Glossary, page 150, for embroidery stitches). Work stems in stem stitch using dark gold on right front. Work straight stitches in flower center using maroon on right front. Work French knots in flower center using light pink on left front. Work leaf veins in stem stitch using light green on left front and chartreuse on right front.
Bobbles: Make a total of 48 bobbles (see Stitch Guide): 14 maroon, 30 medium pink, and 4 light pink. Tie 9 maroon bobbles around flower center on left front, and tie 5 maroon bobbles on right front flower as shown. Tie 15 medium pink bobbles and 2 light pink bobbles each to right front and left back as shown, with a single light pink bobble in the middle of each group.
Felting: Place capelet in washing machine with a pair of blue jeans (for agitation), alternating between hot and cold cycles until the wool has felted the desired amount. Squeeze out excess water and lay flat to dry. Note: To felt the capelet by hand, *place it in a sink or tub filled with hot water and detergent. Use your hands to agitate briskly. Transfer the capelet to a basin of icy cold water and agitate again. Rep from * until the wool has felted sufficiently, checking finished measurements against schematic frequently.
