Selma Cape – a free pattern
- Kamicha, March 15th, 2008, in free pattern
- 17 Comments »
Phew, it took quite a lot of work but here it is – a pattern for Selma Cape. And it is free, you can even distribute it in printed form (prints and photocopies of print from the PDF), just don’t change the pattern. I also noticed that in my pictures of Selma, there was no decent side view, so here we go:
Download free Selma Cape knitting pattern here
NOTE: the pattern is updated for better readability on setup row! Two mistakes corrected and some vague advice revised. Please upload the new version (8.4.2008)
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Now I have had just over a week time to get used to this cape – and actually I have found it quite practical. In Helsinki we have right now quite unpredictable early spring weather: some beautiful sunny days with just few degrees above zero celsius; interrupted by some uglier days with mild frost and even light snowfall. Selma is just great piece for the sunny but still quite chilly days, I wear it over a light cashmere jumper and feel just comfortably warm. When the weather warms up I change to lighter undergarments, long sleeved T:s or airy tunics. Actually there is nothing to be afraid to in those short sleeves of Selma – they make this rather heavy garment very versatile, depending on what one wears underneath.
The undergarment changes the look dramatically, too – that cashmere jumper blends well with the colour and structure of Selma, but white or black sleeves contrast beautifully, colours are also easy to combine that very neutral shade of grey. My body is quite top heavy, so best option for me is quite narrow sleeves when wearing this rather bulky garment, but women with lighter build would pull off nicely wearing undergarment with floaty sleeves.
For the bottom I suggest anything that does not continue the A-line down to the ground: mini skirts with thick stockings, above the knee skirts in floaty, a-lined or straight shapes, pencil skirts below the knee, hip hugging straight or flared trusers, skinny jeans with slouch boots… …use just one colour (and some heels) if you are afraid that this kind of cape makes you look shortish.
Don’t be shy to try the pattern – even if you are not too experienced with cables. The cable patterns are pretty basic and that large body is surprisingly fast to knit with large needles.
I calculated slightly smaller version of the cape for the pattern, but please note that it is not test knitted. I don’t see any great danger to go wrong with it, though, this pattern is very forgiving with sizing issues. The size I made would probably fit nicely to 90-110 cm bust, possibly even larger if you add some length to the bottom ribbing – that A-lined shape is very generous. On the other hand that good drape (could be even better with other yarn, there is suggestion on the pattern) of that fluid cabled structure flows flatteringly close from the upper body, so there is no fear to end up looking like Pooh the Bear with this cape.
If you have any general questions about this pattern, please ask them in the comment section of this post – in that way my answers might help others who might struggle with similar issues. And please, please report me if you find errors on the pattern – I apologise those in advance and will fix them as soon as possible! My free patterns will probably never be test knitted, so there will be a slight aura of thriller knitting while making the first copies of Selma. But I know that you can do it!
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March 17th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
It’s beautiful! Thanks so much for offering this pattern. I think you’re spot on about the Cocoon as a yarn option. I was admiring it at my LYS over the weekend and it’s got it all: wonderful sheen, a nice heft, and not a bad color in the lot. Well, the cape looks fantastic on you, and goes with many things. Bravo!
March 17th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I cannot thank you enough for sharing this with us! I have added it to my queue.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Love the cape!!! Thank you very much for sharing the pattern. This will go ahead of some projects at the top of my ‘to do’ list!
March 18th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Thank you so much for sharing your talents, I will be on the hunt for yarn, and hope I can find something fitting in my area. Bless you!
March 25th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I’m new to cables, but am in love with this cape enough to cast on asap! I have a question (since I am new to cables) when the pattern states to knit the cables as stated in charts, does it go: 6S left, 8S left, 6S right, 8S right, Giant cable, and repeat until the 182 sts are done?
March 26th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Hmm, the whole setup row is:
p1, 6S CABLE LEFT,
GIANT CABLE,
p1, k2,p1, 8S CABLE RIGHT,
p1, k1, k1, 6S CABLE LEFT,
p1, k1 (first sleeve opening comes here later, pm if you want),
p1, k1,p1, 6S CABLE RIGHT,
p1, k1, p1, 8S CABLE RIGHT, p1,k2, p1
GIANT CABLE (center of back)
p1, k2, p1, 8S CABLE LEFT,
p1, k1, p1, 6S CABLE LEFT,
p1, k1, p1 (second sleeve opening comes here later, pm if you want),
k1, p1, 6S CABLE RIGHT,
p1, k1, p1, 8S CABLE LEFT,
p1, k2, p1, GIANT CABLE,
6S CABLE RIGHT, p1
As you can see, there are no actual repeats, the sides are mirrors to each other. If you look the construction chart, the pale gray stripes on that drawing represent the cable widths, you can use that too to get a good idea about the cable order (does not show the twist direction, though).
Hope this helps!
March 27th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I think it helps! So when I start doing the cables, I just finish the cable patterns where the set up row started?
March 29th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Im so excited!!I check your site EVERYDAY so that I dont miss anything and now here is the pattern for your Fabulous Selma-THANK YOU!!!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:02 am
Monica: thanks for your kind words!
Jesi: Now I just did not understand what you mean, please help me!
The setup row is there to distribute the cables and few extra stitches between them – so actually it is row 1 of all cable patterns. The idea is to continue the cables and those extra stitches for the whole cape piece! Hope this helps, if not, ask again!
April 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
wow! I love this, and how brilliant you are to take that step as a designer. I’m so queuing this.. it will be a great present for the cold wintery times. if i get knitting now, it will just be ready for next winter!
April 8th, 2008 at 7:15 am
[...] just updated Selma pattern. When translating it to Finnish I encountered two errors, a typo and one missing technique name – [...]
April 17th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Thank you for sharing with us! I have been admiring this over and over both on ravelry and on flickr.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
WOW! BEAUTIFUL! I am definitely going to make this gorgeous cape. Thank you so much!
January 14th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
This is SO beautiful!
Thank you so much for sharing it. I just took the mountains of sock yarn out of my cart to buy yarn for this beauty.
I can’t wait to get started!
B
February 4th, 2009 at 9:02 am
very beautiful pattern! Thanks!
February 1st, 2010 at 12:01 am
Hi…not sure how to continue the pattern. Is the entire piece constructed of the setup row? Can’t figure out what to do for row two?
September 28th, 2010 at 5:05 am
[...] but I can rock that like a bat out of bingo. I’m a gradual grandma anyways. Another is the Selma Cape, which is a free pattern. More pictures of it on Ravelry here. Let me know what you think of [...]