The Aneeta crossover cardigan knitting pattern is one of my most popular knitwear designs, so I’m bringing her to the blog to show you how this design and pattern comes together. The bust darts in this design are one of the reasons why Aneeta’s a favourite, so it’s time to tell you more about her! She solves a lot of fitting problems for knitters who work hard to get their garments to fit beautifully.
After spending your precious time and money making your own clothes, the end result needs to be something to look forward to. One way to check this before you even cast on a stitch is to work out what your individual fitting needs are; to get to know your body shape and your personal alterations. Bust darts are a common fit alteration, but not everybody knows whether they need them.
You need bust darts if:
- Fabric is tight across the bust;
- Horizontal wrinkles form across the front of your bust, between the breasts;
- The side seams of your tops skew or slant towards the front, instead of sitting vertically or perpendicular to the floor;
- The hemlines of your tops ride up higher in the front than in the back, because your bust needs extra fabric for coverage;
- Straight-cut tops in particular cause drag lines in the underarm area, which point towards the fullest part of your bust.
Mission: Designing a crossover cardigan knitting pattern that stays put
I have always paid attention to how women’s clothes have the potential to make them feel. Why do we have our favourite wardrobe items and why do they work so well?
So when Christine, Knitting magazine editor, sent a brief asking “designers to create a design for themselves – something to show off [their] unique design style and fashion sense, which [they] would enjoy wearing”, I saw it as a chance to test out one of the experiments I’d had in my head for a while. This was back in 2020, in the lockdown era.
Wrap bodices can be flattering and easy to wear if they fit properly. This is especially the case if, like me, you have a bust larger than RTW clothing deems acceptable. If you’ve checked the fit of your clothes against the list above and have answered yes to any of the items, Aneeta was designed for you too.
Creative problem solving: Designing knitted darts
I wanted to find a way of increasing at the bust that didn’t compromise the overall design or feel of a garment. Thankfully I found and was allowed to use The Fibre Company’s Luma. Luma is a delightful DK weight with a beautiful blend of wool, silk, cotton and linen. A good protein/cellulose mix like this would provide drape and elasticity where needed, and allow the knitter to make any final tweaks during blocking or steaming.
For the shaping (see photos above) I worked central double decreases through the rib as I did on Bonnie. Increases were required at the so-called princess line AND side seam to achieve the bust shaping I wanted. The axial stitch of the rib decreases also works as the fulcrum for the optional bust increases. These are then decreased en masse when the yoke pattern begins.
If you look closely at the photo below, you can just about see the decreases beneath the first ridge of garter stitch. And that there are far too many lace stitches to fit into the yoke pattern above 😉
Vertical and horizontal bust darts in hand knitting
There are a lot of discussions about and tutorials on darts in hand knitting. Since my home planet is creative pattern cutting and garment construction, which involved learning a LOT about dart manipulation, it’s interesting to see how hand knitters approach darts.
One thing I do want to say is that darts can be placed anywhere. The only thing you have to consider is what will work best for the design.
For Aneeta, I’ve included vertical darts through the rib, and horizontal darts by way of gathers at the yoke. The direction of the darts influenced the knitting techniques I used to place and execute them.
Here’s a tutorial I prepared on how to work central double decreases (CDD). I use this shaping technique in a lot of my designs with darts through the ribbing.
If you’re looking to insert darts into a pattern without them, this requires a bit of planning and ingenuity, but you can definitely do it. BUT I would encourage anyone looking to do that to first consider designers who have done the legwork for you.
And I don’t mean just me – although I would of course appreciate the support! One Wild Designs has an entire category for knitting patterns with bust darts included, and Kim McBrien Evans has plenty of darts in her designs. So please don’t think that hand knitting designers don’t care about fit. Some of us care deeply, and are looking for ways to make patterns to fit as many bodies as possible.
I am planning a few blog posts on darts and hand knitting in future. But in the meantime, please leave a question in the comments if you have any. I’ll answer them either here on in future posts 🙂
Fabrication and fibre choice for the Aneeta crossover cardigan pattern
Stitch selection for the main body was a lacy rib, with a broken rib for the yoke. I made sure it was all purl on the WS of the lace (alternate rows of the broken rib are plain knit), because I do believe in resting rows! Or, rows off for good behaviour 😉
The lace pattern is a Shetland type. It has a small stitch repeat multiple and repeats over two rows, so it’s quick to memorise and creates a beautiful fabric besides.
Luma is a protein (animal hair; in this case, wool) and cellulose (plant fibre) blend. This combination gives you a mix of elasticity and drape, and is ideal for warmer weather. The more holes you have in lace, the more lateral spread and drape you’ll get.
If you’d prefer something for colder weather, a closer fitting cardigan, or less positive ease, a wool yarn is your best bet. I designed Aneeta with 2.5cm-5cm (1-2in) positive ease, but you can play around with this.
Fitting tips for the Aneeta crossover cardigan knitting pattern
The most important thing with Aneeta is getting a good fit at the shoulder or cross back. Make sure the measurement of the size you choose is as close as possible to your body measurement across the shoulders or back. The darts will help you to get a good fit at the front, so this is an important place to focus on.
Don’t forget that you have the darts to help you out with the fit. The whole point of them is to give you options. You don’t have to compromise on fit in one area to nail it in another.
You can also see that there’s side seam shaping, which is another opportunity for you to get the fit right for your body shape.
The Aneeta crossover cardigan knitting pattern includes bodice variations with and without side seam shaping. This means that you can fit both your midriff and your bust at the same time. If your waist is smaller than your bust, you can taper the seam in. If it is the same size or maybe larger, you can ignore the side seam shaping altogether.
Designer goals
Most of all, I wanted to design something inclusive and flattering for myself and other knitters. The bust range BEFORE adjustment ranges from 85cm/33.5in to 161cm/63.5in. You can add up to 20-22cm to the ‘default’ for any size, which is excellent if you have a full bust and a narrow back.
You can see the alterations photographed and modelled on me, in which I’ve added 5-6 cm of volume for my full bust measurement. The fold or crease I pinched out in the photos above has gone! All you can see is a crossover cardigan that lies beautifully flat. Because there’s enough fabric for my contours, you’d never know what I’d done…except you do ;-).
Aneeta | Wrap Cardigan Knitting Pattern
To recap, this is how you know whether you need bust darts:
- Fabric is tight across the bust;
- Horizontal wrinkles form across the front of your bust, between the breasts;
- The side seams of your tops skew or slant towards the front, instead of sitting vertically or perpendicular to the floor;
- The hemlines of your tops ride up higher in the front than in the back, because your bust needs extra fabric for coverage;
- Straight-cut tops in particular cause drag lines in the underarm area, which point towards the fullest part of your bust.
If any of this applies to you, and you’re looking for a crossover cardigan knitting pattern, I hope you’ll give Aneeta a try. I think she’s beautiful!
And these knitters agree:
More designer treats…
If you’d like to learn more about knitwear design, I have courses and a seasonal membership for those interested in visiting my virtual design studio! It’s called Studio Spotlights and you’ll get the opportunity to see me working on future knitting patterns. It’s great for knitters and designers alike – a community space behind the scenes.
I have more posts planned on designing knitting patterns with darts, so stay tuned. And please leave a comment if you have any burning questions or if there’s anything in particular you want to see.
Finally, thank you for reading, and a big thank you to Katie and Connie for their ongoing support via Ko-Fi! If you’d like to support my blog regularly or make a one-off contribution to the tip jar, click the pink button on the bottom left.
And if you found this post helpful or inspiring, please share it with other knitters or designers you know. Especially if you know knitters who’d love to knit a crossover cardigan for themselves, but haven’t found the right pattern yet 🙂