Knitty Spring + Summer 2017 issue is out, and my Airelle tee is one of the lovely summer patterns. Airelle Tee is a summer knit that is easy to knit and fun to wear – or fun to knit and easy to wear. The top is worked seamlessly in reverse stockinette from top down starting with a circular yoke that switches to raglan shaping before dividing for the sleeves. Work WS out so you do not need to purl, except for the garter stitch edges. Leave wrong ends on the outside (WS) and turn work once finished to leave reverse stockinette on the RS. A-line shape gives more room for the play of colors. The gradual change from lighter to darker colors keeps you interested, but is still easy to knit. Choose four recycled stonewash denim shades or create your own combination!
Pattern: Airelle tee
Yarn: Drops Paris Recycled Denim, Colorways 100 (71 g), 101 (147 g), 102 (147 g), and 103 (72 g)
Needles: 4,5 mm and 5,0 mm (US 7 and US 8)
Thick (Aran weight) cotton yarn is not my typical choice of yarn, but I was intrigued by the recycling aspect of the yarn, and also saw a gradient set in the four shades of denim that the recycled series provides. I wanted a circular yoke to avoid the angles that raglan shaping creates. Towards the underarms the circular shaping switches to raglan shaping to guarantee a tight fit at the top.
I used reversed stockinette to create blurred lines in the stripes. Every stripe is the same two rounds wide, but the way the colors change creates an illusion of more random striping. There is a different stripe sequence for all sizes to make sure the effect is the same for shorter and longer versions of the tee.
