Matisse's 40s Cabled Peplum Pullover The inspiration for this sweater came from 1940s suit jackets. I wanted it to closely follow the body and end just below the waist with a kicky little pleated peplum. I originally envisioned it with simple princess seams for the shaping, but decided to put cables inside the princess seams to add to the tailored look. Bust darts were a must on this sweater so that it would hang right. The yarn is four strands of Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk blend, as soft and light as a cloud, but nice and warm. A nice bonus to the princess seam shaping was the way the back of the sweater really suggests a suit jacket. The peplum also works very nicely on the back. The fit on this sweater is probably the best of any sweater I've designed. Shoulder fit is an issue for the busty, and I've tended to make the shoulders a bit too large in many of my sweaters. The shoulder fit for this sweater is nice, and yet there's no pulling at the bust. I knit this as a saddle-shouldered sweater with the saddle cable continuing down the arms to the edge of the sleeves. I've been knitting these saddle-shouldered sweaters from the top down in one piece. This seems to help with the shoulder fit, as does doing a larger cast-on at the underarm. No need to create that extra width until you need it.

Copyright © 2004 by Heather Madrone. All rights reserved.