Tahki Yarns Lady Liberty Mock Turtleneck Knitting Pattern

Tahki Yarns Lady Liberty Mock Turtleneck

What is Being Made

The Lady Liberty Mock Turtleneck is a knitted sweater designed by Shaina Bilow, featuring a distinctive mock turtleneck collar and a prominent cable panel detail down the center front. This garment is available in six sizes ranging from Small to 3X, with finished bust measurements from 36½ inches to 56½ inches. The sweater offers versatile sizing with front length options from 22 to 27 inches, making it suitable for various body types and personal length preferences.

Techniques Used

This intermediate-level knitting project is constructed using a bottom-up seamed approach, meaning the sweater pieces are knitted from the lower edge upward and then sewn together. The garment is worked flat on straight needles rather than in the round, with the exception of the collar which is worked on a circular needle. The construction involves shaping armholes and a mock turtleneck collar that is picked up and worked separately after the main body pieces are completed.

Key techniques employed include cable work for the decorative panel, ribbing for the lower edge and collar, and various shaping methods such as increases and decreases to create proper garment fit. The pattern requires careful gauge checking and stitch marker placement to maintain pattern alignment throughout construction.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette Stitch: The primary stitch used for the main body of the sweater, creating a smooth, classic knit fabric
• Knit and Purl Ribbing (K1, P1): Used for the lower edge ribbing and the mock turtleneck collar to create elasticity and a finished appearance
• Cable Stitches: A 34-stitch cable panel forms the centerpiece of the front, utilizing C8B (cable 8 back) and C8F (cable 8 front) techniques where stitches are slipped to a cable needle and crossed over each other to create the characteristic twisted rope-like texture
• Decreases: K2tog (knit 2 together) and ssk/ssp (slip, slip, knit or purl) are used for shaping armholes and other decreases
• Increases: M1L and M1p (make 1 left and make 1 purl) techniques are employed to add stitches where needed for shaping

Materials and Tools

The Lady Liberty Mock Turtleneck is knitted using Tahki Yarns TUCSON, a blend of 52% cotton and 48% wool. This fiber combination provides breathability from the cotton content while adding warmth and elasticity from the wool, making it suitable for transitional season wear. The yarn comes in 1.75-ounce (50-gram) balls with 108 yards (100 meters) per ball. The pattern requires 10 to 18 balls depending on the finished size, with larger sizes requiring more yardage.

Construction requires size 9 (5.5mm) straight needles for the main body pieces and a size 9 (5.5mm) circular needle measuring 16 inches long for working the collar. Additional tools include a cable needle for managing the cable stitches, stitch holders for temporarily securing stitches, stitch markers to track pattern sections and shaping points, and a yarn needle for seaming pieces together and weaving in ends. Proper gauge is essential—the pattern specifies 15 stitches and 21 rows over 4 inches in stockinette stitch, and the 34-stitch cable panel should measure 5¾ inches wide.