Out of the Mist
Out of the mist comes my latest sweater design, and the last pattern for 2026: Mistbound.
In this blog post you'll learn more about the inspiration behind the pattern, the void it fills in my wardrobe (and hopefully yours too), and how The Great British Sewing Bee plays into it. I'll also share some lovely test knitter photos towards the end.
Mistbound is a soft and lightweight top-down raglan pullover designed to bridge the seasons, to be a transitional piece for transitional weather. Three design choices help in achieving this: yarn choice, lace on the sleeves, and body length.
The sweater is knit in a fluffy DK-weight blown yarn. It's done mostly in stockinette but the real eye catcher of the pattern are the sleeves: they're done in an all-over lace pattern. The body of the sweater is fairly short which makes it ideal for wearing with skirts or dresses — which is what I've modeled it with in the pattern photos.
With a new season of The Great British Sewing Bee on the telly I always get an urge to bust out the sewing machine. I sewed a few dresses over the summer, the latest of which was a fit-and-flare dress in a black and white cotton poplin. You can see more photos of the dress (sans sweater) on Threadloop.
As I had only a limited amount of fabric available — I'm a chronic under-buyer! — I had to take a few short cuts and made three-quarter sleeves in favor of a fuller skirt. This of course means my arms got chilly as the weather turned… And this was how I wanted Mistbound to fill in the gap in my wardrobe: a garment for clinging onto the remnants of late summer, for extending the usability of your favorite dresses with a layering piece that adds a bit of extra warmth as the weather cools.
On most lace garments I've previously designed the focus has been either on the yoke (Matcha Latte, Golden Assam, Rockweed) or on the front of the garment (Chai Misto, Wychwood). With Mistbound I wanted to focus on the sleeves for a change. The cozy fabric paired with delicate lace sleeves gives an airy yet warm feel to the garment.
But, as I discovered, placing the lace on the sleeves presented some unique challenges in terms of pattern writing.
While the lace pattern is not difficult, per se, there are a few tricky spots that might throw you for a loop if you're not an experienced lace knitter. The two things that challenged my test knitters the most was 1) picking up the lace pattern in the right spot when continuing the sleeves from the underarm down and b) maintaining the pattern on the sleeves during sleeve decreases.
Both written and charted instructions are provided for the lace pattern but, nevertheless, I highly recommend the ability to read your knitting if you decide to tackle this pattern. It'll make maintaining the pattern a whole lot easier. However, if you're not yet experienced in lace knitting, I've also offered a simplified solution to handling the decreases in the pattern: just work the sleeve undersides in stockinette and lace elsewhere. It's only for a few stitches, after all.
Speaking of the lace, it makes another brief appearance on the lower hem just above the ribbing. The hem and sleeve cuffs are done in twisted ribbing as is the neckband.
For the neckband, Mistbound uses the same techniques to create a doubled-down, fold-over ribbing as my previous sweater pattern. Whereas on Overmorrow the neckband was done in 2×2 ribbing, here I used my favorite rib pattern: 1×1 twisted ribbing.
First, a round of slip stitches is crocheted around the neckline which gives a stable foundation for picking up stitches and prevents the neckline from stretching out over time. Second, stitches are picked up from the slip-stitch round and twisted ribbing is worked around the neck. The neck ribbing is folded to the wrong side with the inner layer done in stockinette for a smooth, next-to-skin fabric. Finally, instead of binding off, live stitches are sewn to the wrong side for a neat and stretchy finish both inside and out.
Mistbound is available in 10 sizes from XS to 6X, intended to be worn with approximately 5 cm (or 2 inches) of positive ease. Choose your size based on your upper-bust measurement, then add bust darts if necessary.
The stockinette body is an ideal backdrop for fine-tuning the fit with waist and bust shaping. Waist shaping is done with decreases and increases placed at the sides of the body. Optional vertical bust darts can be added with increases and decreases placed on the front at the side of each breast. The pattern includes instructions for B-cup (sizes XS to M), D-cup (sizes L to 4X), or F-cup (sizes 5X and 6X) darts but you can also calculate custom bust shaping based on your own measurements.
Body circumference ranges between 77–165 cm (30¼–65 inches) at the underarm level. Full bust circumference ranges between 81–180 cm (32–70¾ inches) with the bust darts included but, as said, these can be either adjusted or omitted completely.
To knit the pattern you'll need DK-weight yarn, approx.
760 (830, 960, 1040, 1110) [1230, 1330, 1460, 1600, 1710] m, or
830 (910, 1050, 1130, 1220) [1340, 1450, 1600, 1740, 1870] yd.
For my fog-colored sample I used a new-to-me yarn, Sesia Bon Bon (220 m/50 g, 240 yd/1.76 oz), which is a mix of 44% cotton, 36% alpaca, and 20% merino. Some of my test knitters used the very same yarn or something quite similar, such as DROPS Air, Austermann Alpaca Cotton, or Rowan Alpaca Classic.
While the sweater was designed with blown yarns in mind, you can also substitute it with any DK yarn that gives you the gauge of 19 sts × 30 rnds over 10 cm or 4" — the fabric just might not be as fluffy.
Whereas I picked a very neutral, unassuming color for the sweater, my test knitters were more adventurous in their color choices. Semi-solid hand dyed yarns such as Miss Babs, Blue Moon Fiber Arts, or Malabrigo will bring out the sleeves beautifully without distracting from the lace pattern.
If you do want the fluffy staff but struggle with finding a suitable DK-weight yarn, you can also use fingering coupled with a lace-weight silk mohair like some of my test knitters did. Double the yardage in that case because you'll need the same length of both yarns. Further information in this blog post: Knitting with Yarn Held Double.
The pattern for Mistbound is now available in my pattern shops on Payhip, LoveCrafts, and Ravelry (seizure warning). And I'd love to see what you make with it! Share your sweater on Instagram using the hashtags #mistboundsweater and #talviknits.
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