April Star Showers Bring Lyrides

Every spring the night sky comes alive with streaks of light as the Lyrids meteor showers grace the heavens from April 15th to the 29th. Inspired by this celestial event, Lyrides is a delicate, ethereal sweater designed to capture the fleeting magic of shooting stars. This top-down raglan pullover, knit in a single strand of lace-weight silk mohair, is the perfect lightweight addition to your handmade wardrobe.

Lyrides combines a classic seamless raglan construction with thoughtful details, making it a timeless piece that’s both wearable and rewarding to knit. For this design I wanted some type of interesting and decorative increase type instead of doing my usual method of strand increases or lifted increases. Raglan increases on Lyrides are done using centered median increases (CMI), a decorative double increase that turns one stitch into three stitches and creates a line of eyelets at the raglan seams.

The pattern features two options for sleeve length. You can choose either long bishop sleeves or short straight sleeves. The bishop sleeves (pictured here) are knit with very subtle decreases before gathering softly at the twisted-rib cuffs. The short sleeves are a lighter, more summery option. In contrast with the long sleeves they have no shaping at all but end similarly in twisted ribbing.

The body of the sweater is subtly A-lined, increasing gently towards the delicate lace pattern. And the hem is where this pattern shines! The lower part of the body is knit in a delicate lace pattern of reminiscent of shooting stars. The lace repeat is quite small — just 10 stitches by 6 rounds — but increases and decreases happen on every round. As always, I've provided both written and charted instructions for the lace pattern.

My favorite design feature on Lyrides is the scooped henley neck. The upper part of the body is worked back and forth doing raglan increases and, at the same time, shaping the neckline by gradually casting on new stitches for the fronts. The neckline is then worked straight to create the vertical opening for the button plackets.

The way the neckline is finished is a bit of a stroke of genius, even if I do say so myself. Twisted ribbing around the neckline is done in a continuous strip, picking up stitches in one fell swoop starting from the right edge of the button placket, going around the back, and finishing on the left side. The tops of the button bands are shaped into crisp right-angle corners with mitered increases, simultaneously working yarnover buttonholes on the right edge of the button placket. This means you only need to pick up stitches once and also have fewer ends to weave in.

Lyrides comes in 10 sizes (XS–6X) and is intended to be worn with approx. 5 cm or 2" of positive ease. Choose a size by adding desired ease to your upper bust circumference (measured at the underarm level above any breast tissue) and comparing it to the "body circumference at underarm level" measurement on the schematic. This ensures a great fit across the shoulders and around the upper body.

Schematic of finished measurements for Lyrides.

Bust darts can accommodate fuller chests if needed. The pattern includes (optional) bust shaping in the form of vertical bust darts. Bust shaping in the pattern is calculated based on Kim McBrien Evans' representative size chart which predicts a B-cup (5 cm or 2-inch difference) for sizes XS to M, D-cup (10 cm or 4-inch difference) for sizes L to 4X, and an F-cup (15 cm or 6-inch difference) for sizes 5X and 6X.

If your bust circumference differs from those predicted in this size chart, you can calculate custom bust shaping based on your own measurements using the provided worksheet. And if your upper and full bust circumference is less than 5 cm or 2 inches, bust shaping can be omitted. The built-in ease included in the pattern ensures the garment will fit over your boobs without doing any additional increases.

Garnstudio DROPS Kid-Silk in the colorway #60 peppermint — Garnstudio DROPS Kid-Silk in the colorway 60 peppermint.

Unlike many patterns today that a worked with holding lace-weight yarn doubled, tripled, or together with another yarn, Lyrides is knit entirely in a single strand of lace-weight silk mohair. This makes it incredibly light, airy, yet warm. My sample, knit in Garnstudio DROPS Kid-Silk in the colorway 60 peppermint, weighs just 100 grams!

To knit the pattern you'll need lace-weight yarn in the following amounts:

for the short-sleeved version: approx. 700 (780, 890, 990, 1050) [1160, 1230, 1350, 1460, 1570] m or 770 (850, 980, 1080, 1150) [1270, 1350, 1470, 1600, 1720] yd
for the long-sleeved version: approx. 920 (1020, 1140, 1270, 1340) [1470, 1560, 1710, 1830, 1960] m or 1000 (1120, 1240, 1380, 1470) [1610, 1700, 1870, 2000, 2150] yd

Yarn substitution and colorway suggestions for Lyrides.

If you're using DROPS Kid-Silk, which is a very affordable option, that means 4–8 balls for the short-sleeved sweater or 5–10 balls for the bishop-sleeved version. But if you want to substitute yarns, any lace-weight silk mohair will do, such as Filcolana Tilia, Isager Silk Mohair, Knitting for Olive Soft Silk Mohair, Rowan Kidsilk Haze, or Sandnes Garn Tynn Silk Mohair. See suggested colorways above.

In addition to yarn, you'll also need both regular and locking stitch markers, some waste yarn, and 3–5 small buttons.

The Lyrides pattern is now available for purchase in my Payhip, LoveCrafts, and Ravelry (seizure warning) pattern shops. If you're on my mailing list, check your email for a coupon code for the pattern.

I’d love to hear your thoughts: what color would you knit your Lyrides in? Let me know in the comments or connect with me on social media! Share your photos on Instagram with the hashtags #lyrideshenley and #talviknits.