Over the Morrow and Far Away

3 hours ago

5 min read

To me, fall and cabled sweaters are inexorably linked together. With that in mind I designed Overmorrow, a cabled pullover that may look pretty classic at first glance but has an unexpected construction twist if you look more closely…

Overmorrow gets its name from an old English word meaning "the day after tomorrow". My native language, Finnish, still has the words for ylihuomenna (day after tomorrow) and toissapäivänä (ereyesterday, day before yesterday) in everyday parlance but these are now considered archaic in English. High time to bring them back?

"Overmorrow" seemed like an appropriate name for a sweater that looks as though it could have come from another era but is built using a construction that I hadn't seen used quite this way before: it's worked as a hybrid between a saddle shoulder and round yoke. This brings an updated, modern construction approach to the classic fishermen-style aran sweater.

Saddle shoulder construction has been quite popular in recent years, and while I don't usually jump on design trend bandwagons, it made sense to use this approach for a sweater with cabled sleeves. I was particularly attracted to the idea of cable panels covering the entire length of the sleeves from the neckline, over the shoulders, and down to the cuffs. These sleeve cables aren't just decoration plugged on top. Au contraire, the whole construction of the garment was designed around them.

A top-down saddle shoulder starts off as a rectangle in shape with two flaps covering the shoulders. Further increases are then made almost vertically, going from the shoulder point to the underarms. But I didn't want that distinct increase line. What would happen if you dispersed the increases evenly instead?

Overmorrow is done in a hybrid yoke construction that combines a rectangular saddle shoulder with a circular/round yoke into an oval shape.

After the saddle shoulder and front-neck shaping are done, the rest of Overmorrow is worked in the round like a circular-yoke sweater, turning that initial rectangle into an oval that better fits the human anatomy than any normal round yoke would. What you get is the best of both constructions: the saddle-shoulder approach gives structure and definition on the weight-bearing part of the sweater while the circular yoke increases provide smooth, gradual shaping across the upper body.

To keep things simple, the upper yoke is worked in plain stockinette save for the cable panels on the sleeves. Increases are worked surreptitiously using Elizabeth Zimmermann's invisible increases. Can you even see them?

Once body and sleeves have been separated, two sets of garter ridges are worked. Since the sweater is knit in the round at this point, these garter-stitch ridges are done using short rows so that you don't have to purl in the round — everybody's least favorite thing, I'd imagine.

The lower body is covered in a wide cable panel with a central knotted motif that looks like as if a ribbon has been woven through it. And if you look closely, you can see the same asymmetrical cables from the sleeves echoed in the body as well. To maintain design proportions as the garment sizes get larger, the body cable is graded in four width blocks. The sleeve cables are identical in every size but mirrored in the left versus the right sleeve.

Wide reverse-stockinette panels are worked at each underarm. This provides a perfect opportunity for hiding waist-shaping decreases and increases at the sides of the sweater. When done using purlwise increases and P2togs you can hardly see the shaping, only its effects.

Similarly, increases and decreases for bust darts can be hidden in the purl columns between cables on the body. This creates more room for the full bust but doesn't draw the eye to the shaping. As has become customary in my patterns, I've given instructions for B-cup (sizes XS to M), D-cup (sizes L to 4X), or F-cup (sizes 5X and 6X) vertical bust darts but you can calculate custom bust shaping based on your own measurements.

Right before the hem, the cable pattern morphs into regular 2×2 ribbing. Decreases are made at the transition for two reasons: to make the shift seamless and to counteract cable flare. The same carefully considered detail is done at the sleeve cuffs, as well.

One last design detail is the folded ribbed neckband, another feature that's been popular in indie sweater patterns in recent years. But I like to do my own thing, not just follow the herd, so this might not be the kind of folded ribbing you've done previously.

A round a slip stitches is crocheted around the neckline for added stability.

To add stability, a round of slip stitches is crocheted around the neckline, then stitches are picked up from each slip stitch for the neck ribbing. This approach has many benefits. For one, it gives structure to the neckline, preventing it from stretching out. Think of it as the equivalence of stay stitching in sewing.

Stitches are then picked up from the crochet slip stitches for the neck ribbing.

Two, picking up stitches for the neck ribbing is very easy: you just go into each slip stitch and pull up the working yarn. And third, the slip-stitch foundation creates a neat, decorative line at the junction where stockinette and ribbing meet. All wonky stitches, potential holes, and other anomalies are hidden inside the sweater and covered by that crochet round.

The folded neckband looks neat both inside and out.

The inside layer of the neckband is done not in ribbing but in stockinette instead. This creates a smooth fabric on the part that's worn right next to skin on a very sensitive part of the body. One my test knitters even did this inside layer in a cotton yarn, a great option if you have sensory issues or irritable skin.

As the final touch, live stitches are sewn to the inside of the garment along that crochet slip-stitch line. If you were to bind off stitches first, it could make the neckband too tight, preventing you from getting the sweater on or, in the worst scenario, snapping the yarn when trying to pull it over your head. Keeping the stitches live instead gives enough stretch to the seam so that this doesn't happen.

All in all, these three tweaks — crochet slip-stitch foundation, stockinette on the inside, and sewing live stitches — give the folded neckband a polished finish inside and out. Admittedly, it does take a bit more time to knit than your average neck ribbing… but it's worth it.

Overmorrow comes 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. Garment body circumference ranges between 76–168 cm or 30–66¼ inches at the underarm level. Including the aforementioned bust darts, full bust circumference ranges from 81 to 183 cm or 31¾ to 72 inches but, as said, this can be customized.

BC Garn Semilla Melange in #15 Curry. — BC Garn Semilla Melange in 15 *Curry*.

As for yarn, the pattern is designed to be knit in DK-weight yarn. My sample sweater was done in BC Garn Semilla Melange (100% wool, 175 m/50 g, 191 yd/1.76 oz) in the colorway 15 Curry. To knit the sweater you'll need approximately 1020–2230 m or 1110–2440 yd of yarn. Size-by-size yarn requirements are listed on the pattern page.

The pattern for Overmorrow is now available in my pattern shops on Payhip, LoveCrafts, and Ravelry (seizure warning). And I'd love to see what you make with the pattern! Share your sweater on Instagram using the hashtags #overmorrowsweater and #talviknits.