The very brightest tee you ever did see. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an item glow through a computer screen so much! So you can imagine just how vibrant it is in real life. I’m thrilled with how my latest knitting pattern, the Brightest Tee, turned out.
Scroll down for details and to purchase the Brightest Tee knitting pattern.
A few months ago the lovely Miriam from The Discrete Unicorn kindly offered to hand dye a one of a kind colourway for me to design with. Brights are Miriam’s thing, so of course we had to go down that route. Much as I love bright yellows, greens and blues on other people, the only neon-ish colour I ever wear myself is pink. The brighter the better, where pink is concerned! I couldn’t be happier with this shade – Pink Lemonade – and I love how it knits up. There are so many shades of pink and red in the skein but they blend together perfectly.
A yarn this bold needs its time to shine – it doesn’t want to be competing with an intricate pattern for attention. After swatching a couple of ideas and not settling on anything, I realised that I’d actually designed the perfect item 8 years ago; my 2013 self made a knitted top that’s been worn lots but never made it into pattern form. Same gauge, same fit, and the perfect classic shape I’d been thinking of. I use a slightly different construction method to back then, but was able to reverse engineer all the details and make an updated – much brighter – version easily. Hopefully this top will have many summer’s wear like the original!
the Brighter Wrap freebie
See how imaginative I am with naming patterns? Last year we had the Brighter Wrap, and for 2021 I bring you the Brightest tee. It seems crazy that my original lockdown scrappy project was finished well over a year ago, when we were so naive about how long this covid malarkey would last! Madness. Anyway, I thought I’d offer a free copy of the Brighter Wrap with every purchase of the Brightest Tee during the week after launch.
Via Ravelry: add both patterns to your cart and use code BRIGHTERANDBRIGHTEST.
Via Payhip (below), you’ll receive a prompt to add the Brighter Wrap to your cart after adding the Brightest Tee. Unfortunately Etsy doesn’t support this type of promotion so drop me an Etsy message and I’ll send the pattern over directly.
The Brighter Wrap in summary: this knitting pattern was designed as a stashbuster to be worked in any weight of yarn. I used fingering weight in a variety of different yarns and fibres, but the pattern would work equally well in any gauge and you can work to the length and width you desire. The wrap is worked on the bias in garter stitch with a ‘built in’ fringe (very satisfying to unravel!), with a central panel worked in the opposite direction and joined seamlessly.
test knitter roundup
The Brightest tee in brights, neutrals, and everything in between! It was so fun to see how different yarns and colours brought this pattern to life. Forever grateful for my test knitters, thank you so much guys!
Brightest Tee knitting pattern details
YARN 4ply / fingering weight yarn, approximately 477 (529; 617; 682; 752) [829; 919; 997; 1086] metres / 522 (579; 675; 746; 822) [907; 1005; 1090; 1188] yards. Sample shown in The Discrete Unicorn High Twist Merino in shade Pink Lemonade (100% merino, 365m per 100g skein). If using this yarn, you will need 2 (2; 2; 2; 2) [3; 3; 3; 3] x 100g skeins.
GAUGE: 26 sts and 36 rows to 4†/ 10cm in stocking stitch on 3.25mm needles, blocked.
NEEDLES & NOTIONS: 3.25mm and 3mm circular needles of length 24†/ 60cm or 30†/ 80cm depending on size.
3.25mm and 3mm needles of your preferred length for working small circumferences in the round (ie. magic loop, 2 circulars, DPNs).
You will also need 4 stitch markers, a tapestry needle, and waste yarn.
SIZING: To fit bust: 28-30 (32-34; 36-38; 40-42; 44-46) [48-50; 52-54; 56-58; 60-62] inches / 71-76 (81-86; 91-97; 102-107; 112-117) [122-127; 132-137; 142-147; 152-157] cm.
Finished bust: 26 (30; 34; 38; 42) [46; 50; 54; 58] inches / 66 (76; 86; 97; 107) [117; 127; 137; 147] cm.
NOTES
Construction: the Brightest Tee is worked seamlessly from the top down. Stitches are cast on across the back shoulders, which are shaped into a boat neckline using short rows. The upper back is worked back and forth in rows down to the underarm. The upper front is worked identically to the upper back after picking up stitches on each shoulder.
Front and back stitches are then placed on the needle together to work the main body in rounds down to the waist. Optional bust darts can be added at this point. Cap sleeves are created by picking up around the armhole, then using German Short Rows to shape a small sleeve cap, which is finished with a rib edging.
I LOVE seeing people knit my patterns and make them their own – if you could tag @lilykatemakes and #BrightestTee on Instagram that would be great!
The Brightest Tee is also available via Ravelry and Etsy.
Lily Kate x
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