The Knitting Fiend

I’m working on a capelet pattern. Sylvia emailed me and inspired me to do this! Plus, I read that Slate magazine article that said capelets would be the next new thing. Plus, I read the hand knitters on the knitlist talking about knitting capes.

So, I decided: I need a cape.

Strangely enough, from a mathematical point of view, a capelet is an extension of Charlene’s Poncho” . However, to make a cape, I have to switch the program around. Capes open in the center. Most people don’t want to see points in a cape, which means you need more short row regions with more gradual turns. In principle, those are the only changes I need to turn the program into a cape!

Naturally, since I can’t keep things simple, I’m adding a refinement. I’ve been wearing all my ponchos, and I’ve decided that I want the back neck raised on these so they don’t pitch forward as I wear them. Needing to shift my cape would be a pain in the neck; I want to look refined!

Anyway, I worked and experiment, and you can see it here. I coded the geometry and knit the shortest possible “capelet” to test the code. It worked out ok! I took a picture. Notice the back is higher than the front. There are no discernable “points”. At least I can’t discern them! (Ok. This is more like a collar, not a capelet! But, a collar is all that is required to test the fit over the shoulders. )

I’m working on a generator for this. When it’s done, you will all be able to make a capelet. I illustrated the two design choices you will be permitted. You will be ablet to pick the neck length, and “width“. Mine is just past my shoulders. (Making it wider automatically makes it longer. This is due to the geometry of a cape.)

Now that I have the geometry worked out, my next one will be wider– and longer. (That way, it will be a real, honest to goodness capelet, not just a collar.)

I’ll probably show you all a real cape knit in nice yarn in a decent length on…. Monday? Tuesday?

Oh, and by the way, Sylvia gave me lots of cape ideas. If you have some, post. Because Sylvia wants a really long cape, there will be at least 2 short row cape generators. If you leave suggestions in comments, I may be able to code your ideas into the next one generator!