Just right pleat knit tunic/dress

I’m calling this piece “just right” because, depending on your preference (and the amount of yarn you have), it’s super easy to adjust the neckline and the lengths of skirt and sleeves. It’s knit top down in round with a provisional cast-on at the neckline so that you can shape the neck any time. You can also wear with the purl side bodice out, if you like.

The initial inspiration was Heidi Kirrmaier’s Purl Strings sweater. I liked the genius of simple combinations of knit & purl yielding a variety of interesting textures. Rather than a round yoke, however, I wanted to incorporate a raglan construction to interrupt the yoke for creating a slightly different motif.

If you are new to raglan, there is an abundance of helpful resources for top-down raglan constructions. I especially like this free pattern offered by Tin Can Knits, and I drew the mechanics of the piece as a starting point. As for the neckline, I could have used short rows to shape it, but I opted not to because this is a simple crew neck and it naturally shapes the back neck to be a bit higher than the front. For those of you who like more contoured neckline, the Tin Can Knits’ pattern provide that option.

Then, once I started knitting it, I wanted to make it into a tunic or baby doll type dress as long as the yarn lasts, and thought about combining a short bodice with soft pleats that starts a few inches above the waist line. I thought that may be more flattering in this case. The “skirt” part loosely fits your body, and does not cling or too revealing of your shape because it’s knit in a simple “accordion pleats” stitch (like in the accordion stitch cowl), but in round rather than flat.

I think this works well either by itself in spring or fall or as a layering piece in winter. Using different yarns for the bodice and the skirt will create an interesting look. There are so many ways you can create and wear this, and hope you enjoy knitting and wearing!

Instructions

• Neck opening – Using circular needle, CO 86 / 90 / 90 / 90 sts with your favorite method.
  • Because I wasn’t sure of the design I’d want, I started with provisional cast-on. My go-to method is using a waste yarn and crochet hook as explained in this Very Pink Knits post.
  • Place EM, and join for working in the round.
  • If you are using a traditional CO, start your favorite neck trim method, e.g., ribbing, garter, etc. Most common/popular way is 1 x 1 (k1 p1) ribbing until the neck measures 1″ to 1.5″ from CO. In this case, I ended up using a simple rolled neck (more on this later).
• Yoke – knit 2 rows after CO. In R2, increase 22 / 24 / 36 / 46 sts evenly, ending up with 108 / 114 / 126 / 136 sts.

• Start raglan shaping:
  • Raglan marker set-up – k15 / 15 / 16 / 16 PM, k39 / 42 / 47 / 52 PM and repeat one more time to EM.
  • Raglan set up Round 1 – [kfb, knit to 2 sts before SM, kfb, k1 SM] 4 times, increasing 8 stitches.
  • Set up Round 2 – [knit to PM, SM] 4 times.
  • Work Round 1 & 2 for the total of 15 / 18/ 20 / 22 times to the total of 236 / 266 / 294 / 320 sts, then work even (no increase) for 4 / 4 / 6 / 2 more rounds, ending the Yoke section.
  • While working on through the rounds, mix in strings of k and p pattern sts between raglan sections. In this example:
    • Mini semi seed st – R1 repeat [k, p]; R2 [p, k]; R3 k throughout; R4 [k, p]; R5 [p, k]
    • Kit next 4 / 4 / 6 / 6 rows.
    • Garter interval – [R1 k; R2 p; R3 k; R4 p; R5 k] 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 times.
    • Knit next 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 rows.
    • Seed st – [R1 repeat [k, p]; R2 [p, k]] until the end of yoke section.
• Separate body and sleeves – In the next round, separate body/sleeves, hold sts for sleeves on waste yarns and join front & back body.
  • With EM marker intact, transfer all the sts from EM to the first SM (47 / 49 / 62 / 64 sts) to waste yarn (sleeve 1).
  • Cast on 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 sts using backward loop method, remove SM and continue to knit all the stitches to the next SM (79 / 88 / 97 / 106 sts for front body).
  • Remove SM and transfer all the sts to the next SM 47 / 53/ 58 / 62 sts) to another waste yarn (sleeve 2).
  • Cast on 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 sts using backward loop method, remove SM and continue to knit all the stitches to the next SM (79 / 88 / 97 / 106 sts for back body).
  • There should be 158 / 176 / 194 / 212 sts remain in the circular needle.
• Bodice – Continue to knit until the bodice measures approx. 6 / 6 / 7 / 7 inches.
  • In doing so, you can just use knit sts throughout or can incorporate simple pattern such as mini semi seed st, i.e.,
    • For Small, R1-10 knit; R11 repeat [k, p]; R12 [p, k]; R13-22 k throughout; R23 [k, p]; R24 [p, k]; R25-32 knit
    • For M / L / XL, increase the knit row numbers between mini seed sts.
  • For slight contouring, decrease stitches using knit2tog at both sides of bodice 3 times, at every 10th row, i.e., total decrease of 6 sts.
  • The total # of sts are 152 / 170 / 188 / 206 sts.
• Skirt – You will be starting the skirt part using the accordion st in round.
  • To create a pleated skirt with enough ease (i.e., not too clingy), in R1, you will be increasing st count while knitting throughout. Increase one st at a time by using M1 at every 7th st, and if needed, to make the final st count to the multiple of 8, adjust by increasing at 6th st interval at the side(s) of bodice. At the end, you will have 176 / 192 / 216 / 240 sts, i.e., 22 / 24 / 27 / 30 of 8-st accordion patterns.
  • Start the 8-st 2-row accordion pattern st.
    • Row 1 – k4, *p1, k7*, repeat from * to the last 4 sts, p1, k3.
    • Row 2 – *k1, p7*, repeat from * to the end.
  • Continue pattern st until the skirt reaches the desired length, typically between 21 – 24 inches.
  • (Optional) separate front & back – if you like slits with back slightly longer, about 1 inch (or more) before you reach the final length, knit front & back separately.
  • Loosely BO and finish the skirt
• Sleeves – sleeve lengths can be easily adjusted. In this example, simply because I ran out of the yarn, I kept them as short sleeves.
  • Transfer 47 / 53 / 58 / 62 sts from waste yarn to a 16″ circular needle or double-pointed needles.
  • Pick up 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 from body as underarm and join for working in the round, with the total of 55 / 61 / 66 / 70 sts.
  • Continue to knit in round until they reach desired length.
  • In doing so, as in the bodice, you can just use knit st throughout or can incorporate a simple pattern such as mini semi seed st, i.e., R1-10 knit; R11 repeat [k, p]; R12 [p, k]; R12-21 knit; R22 repeat [k, p]; R23 [p, k]. For X/XL, increase knit rows.
  • Loosely BO.
• Neckline – At the end, I was almost running out of the yarn, and also wanted the neckline to be relatively open, so decided to go with a simple rolled neck:
  • As you carefully unravel the waste yarn from provisional cast on, pick up every live st to a 16 inch circular needle (or DPNs) and k 7 rows. You can keep knitting to make it a funnel or turtle neck, if you like.
  • Very loosely CO so that the neckline stays stretchy.
• Finish by blocking and weave in all tie ends. And, enjoy!