Lastlong Pullover: an Everyday Epic

Lastlong Pullover
in Woolly Mammoth Fibre Co. Hearth DK

Every now and again, I get questions or requests, about whether/ when I plan to release a pattern for a particular type of garment. Most frequent among these, without a doubt, have been requests for a fisherman’s rib sweater.

Yet, until now I have resisted it. The fisherman’s rib garment is such a traditional, storied design, that I felt an odd sort of creative pressure from the idea. A pressure to, on the one hand, do the iconic design justice. And on the other hand, contribute something even a teeny bit novel or unexpected, so as not to merely regurgitate a style that has already been done to death. As with Aran cable jumpers (which I tend to resist for similar reasons), it’s a balance that is daunting to attempt.

Lastlong Pullover
in WitchCraftyLady Poldale DK

The other reason I have shied away from this design, is that frankly… I tend to find garments made in a fisherman’s rib (or brioche) type of fabric, to be rather puffy and tricky to wear. On a practical level, they are challenging to stuff inside overcoats. And aesthetically… There is something I find visually jarring about the proportion of the fabric’s thickness to the size of the stitches, and the way this interacts with the human body. Or something. To put it bluntly: When I see a fisherman’s rib or brioche sweater, I almost always prefer how it looks on display, to the way it drapes around the human body (regardless of the body’s shape and size). To my eye something just looks off; in particular the way the fabric behaves around the edges - curling under ever so slightly, despite it being ribbed, and thus contributing to that overall look of puffiness.

Admittedly, I am not at all sure that this is a real ‘problem’ versus just me being fussy and weird. But nevertheless, I could not in good conscience publish a pattern for a garment which I myself would not want to wear, even if others thought it was fine and enjoyed the design.

And so my quest began (and by quest, I mean absurd fixation). I went on an expedition, both virtual and physical, examining any garment I could find that used fisherman’s rib - and noted what I liked and disliked about the various iterations. I discovered that the more wearable designs tended to be knit at a looser gauge in lighter-weight yarns. The designs I liked also tended to feature non-fisherman edgings. I realised that this latter detail, while seemingly minor, was the key. Using 1x1 rib for the cuffs and hem seemed to have an ‘anchoring’ effect on the fisherman’s rib main fabric, and also avoided the under-curl issue.

The problem, however, was that using a different edging would either cinch in the main fabric if the same stitch count was to be used, or would require using a different stitch count, thus interrupting the sequence of the fisherman’s rib and creating a transition between the main fabric and hem, as shown in the drawing not he right.

I wanted to edgings of my sweater to appear as if they flowed out of the main fabric uninterrupted. But without the bulk and that subtle under-curl illustrated in the left drawing. And without the cinching as shown in the centre.

Okay, so at this point I am convinced I have long lost anyone attempting to read and understand any of this!

So I will cut myself off and summarise: I discovered a trick, which I’ve used to create a hem that appears to flow uninterrupted from the fisherman’s rib main fabric, but in fact uses a different stitch motif - and a different stitch count! - ‘invisibly’. The result both anchors and de-puffs the fabric in a way I find tremendously satisfying. It’s as if my brain is smiling! Job done.

Admittedly, it is such a small detail, that compared to the other design features of this sweater - such as the sculpted shoulders! - I am sure it is hardly noticeable. But the quest to solve this problem was what motivated me to tackle the design, after having avoided it all these years.

Sometimes, a fixation on insane nonsense like this is what it takes for a pattern to be willed into existence.

And so allow me to introduce the Lastlong Pullover. A unisex, seamless, top-down sweater worked in half-fisherman’s rib (with mystery edgings), suitable for DK-weight yarns.

I have done by best to make it sculptural, yet non-puffy. Just be sure to follow the size recommendations, and - most importantly - the draconian blocking instructions! The sweater will look very different after completion and blocking, than it does on the needles (should you attempt to try it on mid-process).

Thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoy this everyday epic.

Lastlong Pullover on ravelry
Lastlong Pullover in the web shop