Two years and two days ago, I wrote about a little capelet obsession I was having. I’m still not over it, and the one I mentioned casting on in that post is still on the needles, but the thing weighs a ton! I’ve never finished it because it was impossible to imagine ever being able to wear it in California. But now? Who knows. I was actually thinking about it as I roamed around the Nashville Flea Market this weekend, in search of some furniture for our empty rooms. It’s nowhere near cold enough to need such a thing here — yet! — but I was imagining being at the flea in cooler months and how nice a capelet like that would be. Then Sunday evening, this City Cape showed up in the Purl Soho newsletter, and it’s easily the best knitted cape pattern I’ve seen in three years of looking. The beautiful but neutral texture, that chic front slit, the big ribbed armholes for when you need them — it’s pretty much perfect. Not to mention free on the Purl Bee.
[UPDATE: Now listed on Ravelry]
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this just might be the next thing on the needles – LOVE this design, classic, elegant, simple – need to finish the barn sweater from taproot first! thanks again for finding and sharing!
I saw this pattern yesterday and literally gasped. Sweater projects may be on hold until I can knit this! Do you have any suggestions for alternative yarns? I would love to knit it in pure alpaca but would need something much more budget-friendly. :)
Any nicely plied heavy-worsted or aran would work great. I’d knit it in something heathered or tweed, but that’s my answer for everything!
Oh yeah, I’m with you on that one. I don’t usually fall for capes but this one is just gorgeous. But Pure Alpaca? Forget it, unless you want something that ends up at your knees. I would choose a tweedy wool or a sturdy blend to make sure the shape remains.
This is a great tip on the pattern. I’ve saved it to .pdf and hopefully I’ll get a chance to knit it up! I might change the neck to stockinette (shorter and rolled) — I live in SoCal. Thanks so for the blog post!
O.M.G. This is sooooooo good. This might be the most perfect cape ever.
Totally agree – I literally ran out to buy yarn the second I saw it. Abby, in case this is helpful, I’m knitting it with six skeins of Cascade Eco Cloud (70% merino, 30% alpaca) – significantly cheaper (about $100), and I’m hoping it will have more bounce to it than Purl’s alpaca. BK Shelter is another cheaper, tweedier option (7 skeins for about $90) that I think would look great, too, but I ended up choosing Cascade because I think it’s softer.
I’ve really just been trying to put this cape out of my mind since I saw it the other day…. ;-)
That’s it! This completely convinced me to do a capelet for my 99 year old Mom’n’Law for Christmas! The pattern: Library Capelet. The son of this wonderful woman (my husband, of course!) bought the wool & silk yarn that we both chose. Its a smaller (much smaller!) cape than this one, but considering all the other projects that I have to do before the holidays, that’s a good thing. Thank you, Karen, for the inspiration! She lives in a very cold and snowy place and will appreciate it. (She loves handmade things.)
I fell for this one the moment I saw it, too!
I can so see you pootling round the flea in this. You must knit it!
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Do you think a straight-up wool (like Cascade 220) would work for this pattern?
Definitely!