Project #38 Sarah
Sarah is a simple customizable high- waisted skirt
knitted top-down & in-the-round. The
fold-over waist band starts from ~2” above navel & is secured by elastic. Then the skirt is knitted to the fullest part
of the hips with ~2” negative ease, & knitted to the desired length
straight down. It is finished with 1x1
ribbing for a bit of tapering.
Helpful tutorials:
Knitting Help - Provisional Cast-On Using a Crochet Hook
How to Remove Provisional Cast On in One Piece
Elastic Waistband on Knit Pants
Three-Needle Join for Knitting
Please check end of pattern for errata updates if any.
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate.
Sizes: Small (26”
or 66 cm W), Medium (28” or 71.1 cm W), Large
(30” or 76.2 cm W), X Large (32” or 81.3 cm W), 2X
Large (34” or 86.4 cm W).
Sample garment is in size Small.
This project is customizable to your own gauge,
measurements, & your desired garment ease. You do not have to try to meet sample
gauge.
The suggested skeins of yarn for the whole project are
3 (4, 4, 5, 5) of the yarn listed below.
When in doubt, always get an extra skein.
Materials, Tools, & Notions:
-Yarns:
Lion Brand Yarns 24/7 Cotton in Amber #186G 100% Mercerized Cotton Medium
Weight #4– 3.5oz/100g & 186 yd/170 m
-Needles: 1) 24”/ 73.7
cm & 32”/ 81.3 cm circular needle (CircN) in US 6 or 4.00 mm. Use lengths of needles close to, but
lesser than your waist & hip measurements.
2)
Crochet hook in US 6 or 4.00 mm (for provisional CO).
-All else: 1.5” waistband elastic, stitch markers, waste yarn or stitch holders, tape measure, yarn needle, scissor, hand-sewing needle & thread.
Gauge:
-Blocked gauge in St
st (knit in-the-round): 11 sts x 15.5 rounds = (2 x 2)”
or (5.1 x 5.1) cm.
INSTRUCTIONS
Waistband:
To calculate how many stitches to cast on for the waistband, first measure the circumference of your waist ~2” or 5.1 cm above the navel.
For my example that number is 26” or 66 cm. Subtract the desired negative ease from this
number, which is 2” or 5.1 cm (I like a very snug waistband), & convert to
the number of stitches using your gauge:
26” – 2” (negative ease) = 24” * (11sts/2”) (gauge) =
132 sts.
Provisionally CO 132 sts using crochet hook & a
contrasting waste yarn onto the 24” CircN.
Knit one row using your project yarn.
Place BOR marker, join in the round, & being
careful not to twist, work in St st for ~2” or 5.1 cm, which is about 17 rounds
for me because of my round gauge of 15.5 rounds/2”. If you have a different round gauge, the
number of rounds worked to achieve ~2” will be different.
Note the number of rounds worked. You will work the same number of rounds after
folding over to create the waistband.
Purl one round to create the fold over.
Work another ~2” (or 17 rounds for sample garment) in
St st.
Next, cut the waistband elastic the length of your
waist measurement & join the elastic with 2” or 5.1 cm overlap in the
suggested fashion shown in Figure 1 on page 5.
Carefully unravel the waste yarn of your provisionally
CO sts & transfer the live sts to the other CircN.
With the joined elastic tucked in between the inwardly
folded waistband, line up the CO sts with the waist sts in parallel of each
other, & three-needle join them into one round as instructed below.
Three-needle join instructions:
Using the waist CircN, insert right needle into the first st on left needle for
the waist as if to knit, then into the first st on the CO needle as if to
knit. Wrap & draw yarn through both knit
sts & slide both sts off left needle onto the right. Repeat until end of round.
Skirt Body:
For garments
made with cotton yarns, I tend to make them with 2” of negative ease because
they are likely to stretch over time.
Also, if you think the fit looks a bit tight for you, you can choose to
make the skirt with 1” negative ease or no ease.
If you are
making this out of wool for colder weather, I recommend making it with no ease
to get a similar fit. Wool garments
retain their shape well & are not likely to stretch over time.
Increasing
for Hips
Measure waist
circumference at the level of your navel & convert this measurement to
number of stitches. For my example:
27.5” – 2”
(negative ease) = 25.5” * (11sts/2”) = 140.25 or 140 sts.
140 sts – 132
sts (my current number of sts) = 8 sts to be increased in the next round
(NR).
NR: Knit one round while increasing 8
sts at near even intervals, about every 16th / 17th st (because
132/8 = 16.5).
Put in a side
marker at the midpoint of next round.
NR: K70, pm, k70. (140 sts total)
To plan out
how to increase for the hips, measure the circumference of the fullest part of
your hips, & the length to the fullest part of your hips measured from
about ~2” above navel. For me those measurements
are 38” & 11”.
Converting the
hip circumference to number of sts while accounting for desired ease gives me
198 sts:
38’ – 2” (ease) = 36” * (11 sts/2”) =
198 sts.
Therefore, the
estimated number of sts to increase is 198 – 140 = 58 sts. These sts will be increased by working
the following increase round (Inc R) at regular length intervals to be
determined with the example below:
Inc
R: Starting from 1 st before BOR
marker, m1R, k1, sm, k1, m1L, knit to 1 st before side marker, m1R, k1, sm, k1,
m1L, knit to end. (4 sts increased per round)
Because 58/4 =
14.5, the number of times I chose to work the Inc R is 15 times. Therefore, in actuality the number of sts I will
increase is 15 * 4 = 60 sts, & the final st count should be 140 + 60
= 200 sts.
The current
length of garment is ~2” & I will have to work the Inc R for a total of 15
times in between this length to ~11” length (to the fullest part of hip).
I decided to
work the Inc R when garment measures ~2.5”, 3.5”, 4”, 4.5”, 5”, 5.5”, 6”,
6.5”, 7”, 7.5”, 8”, 8.5”, 9”, 9.5”, & 10” for a total of 15
times. Note all measurements were taken
from about the midpoint between the two markers.
Switch to the
longer length CircN when that makes working the garment easier.
After all
increasing is done, continue working in St st until desired length or when
skirt measures ~16” or 40.6 cm in my example.
Hem
Options
For the sample
garment, the hem was worked in 1x1 ribbing for ~2” or 5.1 cm and then was bound
off loosely in pattern. It fits close to
my body and falls to low-thigh. This is
meant for shorter skirts & for hotter weather.
You may wish to work a more structured hem if you are working a longer length for skirt body, maybe a fold over knitted hem with the same length as waistband. End the hem with a loose three-needle BO instead of a join.
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This section is reserved for Errata:
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Thank you for the interest in my designs!
If you tried this pattern & like the finished product, please tag me on IG @wendylinkdesigns for a chance to be featured.
I also publish sneak previews of future designs at IG @wendylinkdesigns ❤
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Abbreviations:
BO: Bind off.
BOR: Beginning of round.
CircN: Circular needle.
CO: Cast on.
Kfb: Knit both front & back loops to increase one.
M1L: Make one left (left-leaning increase).
M1R: Make one right (right-leaning
increase).
NR: Next row or round.
Pm: Place marker.
Sm: Slip marker.
St st: Stockinette stitch
Figure
1
