Rowan Cabled Skirt Knitting Pattern

Rowan Cabled Skirt

What is Being Made

The Rowan Cabled Skirt is a knitted skirt designed to fit bust measurements from 81-86 cm through 122-127 cm, available in five sizes from Small to Extra Extra Large. This is a sophisticated garment that combines textured stitch work with decorative cable detailing, creating a skirt suitable for intermediate to advanced knitters.

Techniques Used

This skirt is constructed using several key knitting techniques:

• Bottom-up construction: The skirt is worked from the hip upward, beginning with a cast-on at the widest point of the garment
• Flat knitting: The main body is worked flat on straight needles rather than in the round, allowing for seaming later
• Cable work: A decorative cable band features prominent cable stitches that create visual interest and texture
• Seaming: The completed pieces are seamed together to form the finished garment, with side seams marked during construction
• Shaping with decreases: Hip darts are created through strategic decreases worked on specific row intervals (12th rows, then 10th rows, then 8th rows) to achieve a fitted silhouette

Stitches Used

The pattern employs fundamental and decorative stitches to create texture and structure:

• Moss stitch: The primary stitch for the main body of the skirt, created by alternating knit and purl stitches in a checkerboard pattern. This textured stitch provides visual interest and helps the garment drape beautifully
• Cable stitches: The cable band features C10B (cable 10 back) and C10F (cable 10 front) stitches, which create the characteristic twisted rope-like texture of cables by crossing groups of stitches over one another
• Decrease stitches: Two together through back loop (2 tog tbl) decreases are used to shape the hip darts and create the fitted waistline

Materials

The Rowan Cabled Skirt is designed to be worked with specific materials to achieve the intended drape and appearance:

• Yarn: Alpaca Soft DK by Rowan, a lightweight double-knit weight yarn. The pattern is photographed in the colorway Rainy Day 210. Yardage requirements range from 9 to 11 balls of 50-gram weight depending on size selected
• Needles: 3¾mm (US size 5) straight needles for the main fabric, paired with 3¼mm (US size 3) circular needles no longer than 70-100 cm for finishing work, depending on size
• Additional notions: A cable needle for manipulating stitches during cable work, waist-length elastic measuring 4 cm in width, two stitch markers to denote side seam positions, and stitch holders to temporarily secure stitches during construction

Skill Level and Construction Details

Rated as Skill Level 3, this pattern is designed for knitters with intermediate to advanced experience. The construction begins with casting on between 183 and 271 stitches depending on size, then working the main body in moss stitch while simultaneously working a cable band. Hip shaping is achieved through a series of decreases that create darts at the side seams, resulting in a garment that fits smoothly over the hips and tapers toward the waist. The pattern includes detailed instructions for measuring and shaping, with specific row counts and stitch counts provided for each size to ensure proper fit.