This pattern was inspired by the thought of a wide cabled waistband paired with a triangular hemline. The initial sketch and yarn colors looked so much like something a forest maiden would wear to a hunter’s banquet that I ran with that idea and kept adding cables and details. The overall pattern stitch is meant to evoke the idea of scales, as if the wild girl was clad in the skin of dragons.

This pattern is written to be as seamless as possible, so there is a bit of grafting and joining in the round. If you prefer, you can easily knit the pieces separately and sew them together afterwards. The bottom hem is worked first, and then the skirt picked up and knit in the round upwards to the waist. The body is cast on at the waist and worked upwards, with the sleeves added in and the shoulder and neck worked seamlessly together. The waist band is worked last, grafting to the skirt and body as you go to join the two halves.

Size: Fits 34-38” bust, 32-236” waist, and 40-44” hips. Elbow length sleeves are 17” from shoulder to hem. Tunic is 40” from back neck to center of pointed hem.

Materials: MC: ~900m worsted weight tweed yarn (model uses Caron Simply Soft Shadows)
CC: ~600m worsted weight solid color yarn (model uses Nako Vals)
U.S. Size 6 circular needle, cable needle, spare needles

Gauge: With MC in scale pattern stitch: 18 sts and 37 rows = 4”

Techniques Used:
Slip stitch pattern
Knitting in the round
Increasing and decreasing
Short rows
Following a cable chart
3 needle bind off/knitting two pieces together
Provisional cast on
Grafting as you knit

Notes: The green yarn used in the model was actually recycled from an existing sweater. It was wool with a cotton strand twisted together to make the tweed look. The closest approximation I have for the color changes is Caron Simply Soft Shadows. Unfortunately that is a discontinued yarn. Any worsted weight yarn will do for this. Likewise for the contrasting color, I used Nako Vals because it was available and the color I wanted. The smooth twist of the yarn makes the cables stand out, but it is a bit fuzzier than I originally desired.