By Liz Daly

Hello String Theory Yarn Company Community!  How are you all doing?  I hope everyone is good.  Janet has been keeping me busy knitting some samples for the store. My latest is Rift, which I knit in about 2 weeks, knitting a few hours every evening.

Rift by Jacqueline Cieslak

This sweater is made with sportweight yarn on a size 8 needle. The result is a very drapey fabric and an open weave. You could wear this sweater over your outfit in lieu of a shawl during a cool evening or slip it on after your yoga class.  

The Yarn

I knit Rift with 2 skeins of Malabrigo Susuuro in color Cereza. This yarn is a blend of 50% silk, 25% linen, and 25% wool. The linen takes the dye differently. The result is almost a tweedy look. The silk and linen give this sweater an amazing drape. the wool ensures that it won't grow as you wear it. 

Size

This sweater is sized in bust circumference from 40” to 72” and designed to be worn with 6”-12” of ease or 6" - 12"more than your actual bust measurement. I knit the 48” bust size, so on me that equaled about 7” of ease.  On Janet (pictured above), it has about 10" of ease. This works without seeming oversized because of the drape of the fabric.

Make it Your Own

Ribbing
The pattern suggests 3” rib in back and a 1.75” rib in the front, I made a 3” rib on both the front and the back, I wanted my sweater to be reversible and I liked a bigger rib but this is up to you to customize because this is your sweater.

Bust Darts
The pattern discusses how to determine if you need a bust dart and how to knit them to fit your body.  I knit this sweater straight with no bust darts.  If I made this for myself I might put them in but that would take away the option of making it reversible, Nobody wants bust darts on their back.

Neckline
I knit one side with a v-neck and one side with a boat-neck so that you can decide which looks best with the outfit you are wearing. I'm wearing it both ways in the picture at the beginning.

Length
The pattern calls for the length from the bottom of the sleeve to the bottom of the sweater being 9”, I knit mine 11” long. The sleeves I knit as short cap sleeves following the pattern.  

When I knit this sweater for myself, I will knit the 48” bust again but I will add 1-2 inches to the length. I used 2 skeins of yarn to knit this sweater and I have probably around ⅓ of a skein left so there is plenty to add some length. I’m 5’8” with a longer torso and as much as I love everything about this sample I think I’d feel more comfortable with a little more length.

Binding off for now….

Liz Daly