To tell you the truth, I whimper a lot when I’m scrolling through my Pinterest feed. Not in general, mind you, just every time this sublime Souchi cashmere sweater appears. Which is multiple times a day, for weeks now. I’ve seriously never seen an image so widely repinned. If I had the money, and if it weren’t sold out, I would not be inclined to knit my own. It’s so perfect, exactly as is, and I’d want the designer to have the money. Alas, I don’t have the dough and it does appear to be sold out. And clearly I’m not the only one longing for it. So, spurred by exchanges elsewhere with Louhie and MJK, I’m here with suggestions for knitting a very close approximation of your own:
1. The image that sprang to mind when I first saw this was Helga Isager’s pattern Lemon, from the Amimono Knit Collection 2010. It’s different — slightly different shape, different details — but I wouldn’t even tamper. Just go with it! Maybe make a bigger size than you would have, so it’s just that much wider. Substitute cashmere if you can.
2. Another option is Tokuko Ochiai’s Deep Forest. Lovely as is, but to make it more like the Souchi, you could omit the cables and even the neck shaping and edging. And finish off the arms several inches sooner than the pattern calls for, leaving larger, less tapered arm openings. Again: Do it in grey. Cashmere if you can.
3. Then there’s Cirilia Rose’s cute and adaptable Espenson, which is knitted from side to side. To get something closer to the Souchi’s shape (and ignoring the color-change bits, working in classic grey instead), you could shorten the rows, to get a more cropped length in the end. Leave out the neck shaping, or shape the front just like the back. And instead of working the edging as noted, which becomes the ribbish waistband, work entirely in stockinette. Once the sides are seamed together, pick up stitches all the way around the hemline and rib for a few inches.
If you happen to know of something even closer, please chime in!
.
Thank you for the discovery! I didn’t know Souchi, but Helga Isager’s pattern catched my attention a few months ago and this Lemon seems so comfortable, I love it!
It’s a gem.
You are the best, Karen! Before I even joined Pinterest, I actually wrote to a lot of the designers on Etsy whose work you see on there. I always tell them that I am a fan of their work and ask if they sell their patterns. I wrote to Aniko of Okapiknits a few years ago, Celina of Celapiu, and Cherylline of ileaiya. I also wrote to Daniela Pais who designed that Elementum sweater everyone loves. I always tell them that I am a huge fan of their work, and I usually say that as a knitter, I wouldn’t purchase the item, but I would purchase the pattern. And I tell them that it is a market they could expand their brand to. They usually say thank you, but at this time they are not selling their patterns, but they will think about it for the future. It’s just fun to write to people from all over the world. Maybe you could talk some of these people into selling their patterns! Or you know how after the Academy awards, people make knock off dresses from the runway for cheap? Someone should try to come up with knock off patterns. I love the knitting world. And this blog! :)
I do think there’s a real market for that, and it would be so easy to do in so many cases. But I have mixed feelings about actually doing it. But I have ideas about ways of maybe working something out …
Have you seen Hekla by Cirilia Rose? http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hekla-3
I have! It looks like a fun knit. I keep trying to picture it in a solid (like I do) and think I would like it.
After finishing Helga Isager’s beautiful Robin’ and learning the simple construction of side to side tops, I can’t resist trying to make something similar to the glorious Souchi one…
I will try to remember to write it up a basic recipe as I knit it up for those of you that might be interested in your own version. I’ll keep you posted, Karen!
Wow! I’ll look forward to that!
Me too!
It may be a month or so… I started another cardigan, so have put my ‘lemon’ aside for the moment. Once I get back to it I will write down what I do. I am basically doing my own version from the Robin pattern! That pattern is so versatile you could do a million fabulous things with it! ;-)
What about Lizaoid’s version of Robin Bluse?
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizoid/robin-bluse
But done with shorter sleeves? (And in grey of course!)
Yeah, sleeveless Robin is a good call. I love that pattern as is, but I’d also love it minus the sleeves and the decorative stitching — just the contrasting center panel with its two nice edge lines.
Thank you everyone for loving my souchi sweater! Sometimes the simplest pieces are the hardest to get exactly right. The izzy was but now t’s a souchi girl favorite. With all your buzz about this I have decided to make more. If you MUST have the original order it on souchi.com As a thank you for the compliments use code: fringe20 to get 20% off thru April.
Xo
Suzisouchi
Hi, Suzi. What a nice offer! I’m not finding the sweater on your site anymore, though — do you have a new URL for it?
Suzi! Thank you for the offer!
here is the link: http://souchi.com/products/izzy-panel-shell-in-hand-loomed-cashmere
Thanks!
I love the original sweater, thanks for sharing! I was not familiar with that brand. Coming across this post has cost me $84, but saved me $304 (knitter’s logic), as I’ve decided to have a stab at knitting a longer version of the Souchi sweater. Looks doable to me!