Lady Dude

Over the past year or so, I’ve heard a lot of people commenting that some armhole shaping would be really nice to make The Dude fit better at the shoulders, and I agree. (See The Dude if this is all new to you.) I’ve been contemplating fixing that up for some time, as well as making a pretty, girly one just for me. So, here you have it - the New and Improved Dude! With armhole shaping! And to experiment with the new shaping, I used a trick that I don’t usually recommend - I just made the sweater in size medium at a tinier gauge so it would fit me and not my brother. Really, this is often not a very good idea & I make no guarantees as to how it will go for you, but it worked for me! (This time)

Just to make sure you got that, this is NOT a brand new pattern for ladies . The new pattern has been changed to have armhole shaping for a better fit & edited to check for any errors that may have previously been present. It also has prettier charts, so I do really recommend downloading it even if you don’t care about armhole shaping.

But since I know you’re dying to make one yourself, I will tell you how I did my Lady Dude:

First off, a lady’s sweater should be softy-soft if it possibly can (or wooly, but that’s a different sweater), so I picked Malabrigo Merino Worsted. I don’t care if it pills, I love Malabrigo in every shade and weight and ply or single with all my heart. (I may have said that before a few dozen times.) One of the elements that draws me to Malabrigo is the semi-solid kettle dyed look of the colors. I picked Pollen (the baby yellow), Uva (the purple), and Paris Night (navy blue), but I believe that all colors of Malabrigo are stunning.

Lady Dude

11/2/10

My Lady Dude in Malabrigo Worsted (100% Merino; 210yds/192 m per 100g skein)

As for actually making this gem, I followed the pattern exactly for size Medium except that instead of having a gauge of 21sts/21 rows = 4”/10cm in unstretched 1x1 rib, I got a gauge of 24sts/24 rows =4”/10cm. (Oh, and I did use buttons instead of a zipper - ugh to sewing zippers in.) Since I didn’t make any extra changes, it’s pretty loose-fitting without any lady shaping. Just as a quick tip, make sure to measure your gauge with your ribbing completely unstretched so that it almost looks like stockinette (the purls will be hidden in between the ridges.) The resulting fabric is stretchy, but unless you stretch it out on purpose during blocking, but ridges should pull together naturally even during wear. (Just don’t make this out of cotton - it really wants to be a wool sweater.)

My resulting bust measurement is 32 inches/81cm, and since my row and stitch gauges are still the same as each other, the lengths worked out quite proportionally.

Since I’m doing a re-release of the pattern (still FREE!), I want to say a little bit about why I’m offering this as a free pattern since some of you may be wondering. I do value patterns and think knitters should pay for them. And I did work very hard (and pay my editor) to bring this pattern to you. But it’s important that I not sell this particular pattern. My reason is that the design concept is a knock-off. Now I know that lots of people make knock-offs all the time and that it’s normal in fashion, and I don’t really have any inclination to comment on that practice in general. Personally though, I think I have lots of really good ideas and I really like when people support me financially for those great ideas and all my hard work making them into usable patterns. The pattern for The Dude was a whole lot of work, but it wasn’t my idea, and I don’t feel comfortable selling something that wasn’t my idea. So, if you like this pattern and are excited that I designed it, please do check out my other patterns.

Thanks to my lovely sister-in-law and her hot wig for modeling!

Download the New & Improved Dude here or on Ravelry.

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