Pattern of the Week: Suffragette's Coat

Readers, I think it’s time you learned the truth: sometimes knitting editors will select a project for publication because we want the pattern for ourselves. This is exactly what happened when I chose designs for Knitting Traditions 2018. When Cheryl Toy’s sketch for a cutaway coat hit my desk, I gasped out loud. Then I picked up the swatch, in Madelinetosh Tosh DK; its glorious crimson color may have elicited a moan or two. (My coworkers wondered what on earth I was doing in my office. Maybe I should have shut the door?) My first thoughts ran like this: “I must have this coat. I must knit this coat. How can I make this happen? Hey, wouldn’t it be perfect for Knitting Traditions?!!! It could make a great cover.” And so this design came into existence and became our cover project.

The Suffragette’s Coat combines drama, fine details, and history—all the things I love. It will also be a fun and intriguing knit, with its top-down, one-piece construction. A standing collar in twisted rib flows into the coat’s front edgings, where those twisted ribs form bold diagonals. Waist shaping and cutaway shaping on the fronts recall the fashions of the early 20th century. A turned hem adds some weight and prevents curling at the bottom edge. Then there are the glorious sleeves (and I rarely rhapsodize over sleeves), with their deep split cuffs and eye-catching buttons. Yes, there’s a lot going on in this intermediate-level pattern, but don’t let that stop you. Rise to the challenge, just like those generations of brave women and men who demanded female suffrage.

Add this fabulous coat to your fall knitting queue today and read about the 1900 National Suffrage Fair in Knitting Traditions 2018.

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Pattern Details

DESIGNER Cheryl Toy

DIFFICULTY Intermediate

FINISHED SIZE 31½ (35½, 40½, 44½, 
49½, 55)" bust circumference. Cardigan shown measures 35½"; modeled with ½" of positive ease.

YARN Madelinetosh Tosh DK (100% Merino wool; 225 yd [205 m]): tart, 10 (12, 13, 16, 18, 20) skeins.

NEEDLES Size 5 (3.75 mm): 32" circular (cir) and set of double-pointed (dpn). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

NOTIONS Markers (m); cable needle (cn); stitch holders; waste yarn for provisional CO; tapestry needle; two 11/8" buttons.

GAUGE 23 sts and 32 rows = 4" in St st.