Finished: City Cape with Bonus WIP Photo!

Since I've been working on so many things at once it's been a little harder than usual to see progress, but I finally have something that looks like a cape and a cardigan!


I am pretty much done with the Not-a-Poncho City Cape, from the book Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. I used Cascade Ecological Wool in color #8087, Coffee. It's a top-down, raglan shaped cape. It took me a little under two skeins, and I added several inches before beginning the arm holes, otherwise the armholes would have started half-way up my biceps. My only other modification was changing the trim to 3 x 2 rib instead of 2 x 2. This is one of the things I really wanted for my Fall/Winter wardrobe, so I'm happy it's done before the weather changes.


I don't know if the news has traveled out of Southern California, but we've been having record heat around here (113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles and at least that hot where I live!) so I just couldn't face stepping outside to model my wooly cape. It's pretty much done, but it's supposed to have ribbon facing on the front bands and around the armholes. I bought some brown and cream with blue accents paisley ribbon at Joann, but it's not exactly what I had in mind--so I might just leave it off until I find the right one. I wanted something a little more earthy, and less of a contrast with the knitted part.

I do like the Cascade Ecological Wool, if only because it's so cheap. I bought five skeins of this stuff on sale at WEBS for $11 a huge skein of heavy worsted/bulky weight yarn (depending on who you ask), and so for $55 I have knit my husband a sweater, this cape, and still have enough left for a short sleeved cardigan for me. This color is a little hairy, but I have a lighter color that isn't quite as bad. From now on I think I will stick to the lighter colors.

Just for fun, here is one of my WIP's, the Delancey Cardigan designed by Alexis Winslow. Delancey is a one-armed lady at the moment...but I love knitting with Knit Picks Swish DK, so I don't even dread the sleeves. The other one will be coming right up! I'm using Beach Glass as the main color, and Pampas Heather as the contrast color. It's a little less punchy than the pattern model, but I was good and used stash yarn.




This is such a well-written pattern, and for once it's designed for taller-than-average girls with long arms! I actually knitted my sleeves SHORTER than the model. Never happened before! I really like the way it's written, with row numbers given in all instructions. It would be difficult to modify the length without completely re-writing the pattern, though, so keep that in mind if you're considering this one. This will hit me around the bottom of my rear, and I am 5'7" tall. Once I get the bottom trim knitted on, it will not have that "V" shape anymore.