Eleven Hundred Dollars Sweater

We love patterns with a story and a sweater pattern dropped into our
mailbox recently at Fyberspates HQ that had a whole film behind it. The Eleven
Hundred Dollars Sweater, designed by Elanor King is part
of the soon to be released Cooperative Press book ‘Hitch: Patterns Inspired by
the Films of Alfred Hitchcock' by
Stephannie Tallen. In this dramatic collection, knitwear designers have
taken inspiration from Hitchcock’s films to create some pretty film worthy knit
wear. Whether you are planning a train ride to Mount Rushmore, a shopping
excursion to a Bodega Bay bird shop, or simply a night peering out your rear
window, this collection will keep you in the proper, stunning wardrobe for your
Hitchcock adventures. We chatted with Elanor to find out about her
favourite movie moments and what she enjoyed most about designing from this
inspiration.

It seems we are not the only ones who are a little scared of Hitchcock’s
fabulous ability to scare his audience. Elanor said ‘”Although horror and
thriller movies terrify me to the point of hiding behind the sofa, I have been
known to mute a Hitchcock film just to watch the gorgeous costumes by Edith
Head. Rear Window is the movie that I took for my inspiration for Eleven Hundred
Dollars - Grace Kelly has such feminine style in it. She wears deep V necks,
lots of chiffon and her waist is so tiny! I've tried to incorporate some of
these elements into the design: the sleeves are 3/4 length bishop style and in
a mesh lace so there are hints of skin peeping through. The waist is emphasised
by the deep waistband and geometric zig zags. The difference in ease between
the band and the upper body (3") also enhances the wearer's shape. This is
a top that would look great on a woman with curves (and that's not a
euphemism!)”

What is really striking is Elanor’s attention to
detail so it comes as no surprise that the pattern includes lots of interesting
details and different techniques to keep a knitter’s interest when working the
project. Elanor has captured a Lisa's character with her design as Lisa’s clothes in
Rear Window are fabulous celebrations of femininity: cross-over tops, wispy,
floaty material, teeny-tiny nipped-in waists. The geometric lines and princess
seams flatter and curve the waist and the sleeves are a flirty knit mesh with
lots of shape. When Lisa shows off her Paris dress to Jeff she tells him it’s
“A steal at eleven hundred dollars”, thus giving us the name of the sweater.  

The sweater is worked from the bottom up then moves on to some interesting
construction methods. The waistband is worked in the round to the crossover,
then the body is worked flat and splits into back and fronts at the armholes.
The sleeves are worked flat, top-down. There is a good range of sizes 30- 54
inches and is knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 Ply / Sport Superwash.Scrumptious
4 ply Sport is a 45% silk, 55% superwash merino base with 400 yds / 365m per
100g skein. Of the yarn, Elanor said, “It's a fab yarn, giving gorgeous
colour contrast and stitch definition in the mosaic stitch waistband. It ran
very smoothly for me and thus worked up quickly, which is important in a 4-ply
sweater! Also! It *ahem* withstood with grace a wee bit of frogging and
re-knitting... I've been swatching lots of things in scrumptious since.
 For the KAL in April, I think I'll join in and work up another version in
navy and beige. Though I'd also love one in a Cornflower blue and Cream
colourway; and Jen's green is my favourite colour.... so many choices!!!! One
of each!”

We are so glad Elanor enjoyed the yarn and look forward to seeing
more of her designs. This title is
currently available for preorder from the Cooperative Press website, and will be released on September 27. Pre-orderers will receive two
exclusive, bonus patterns: one for a cabled cowl and the other for a cloche. To
get your own colour combinations of Scrumptious 4 ply, please visit our shop. Stay tuned for more
news from the book as we are proud to be part of the ‘Hitch Blog Tour’ later in
the year.