I am proud to show you the photos of gorgeous model Anne Dorthe/Team Models wearing Imra, with beautiful hair & make up by Sissel Fylling, fantastic jewelry by Kaja Gjedebo and brilliantly captured by Eivind Røhne at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. Here is my introduction to Imra: Poetic cables framed by reverse stockinette stripes and double seed stitch, was my idea for this straight long vest. I named this piece after the Arabic Poet, Imra. A small round neck has the same I-cord treatment as the armhole, front, and bottom edges. Match with a pair of loose sleeves that can also be worn around the waist or one as a neck tie. To achieve popping cables two yarns were combined to make a rich colored tweed yarn. I used the bouncy Hifa Ask and Rowan Fine Tweed. The Norwegian pattern, together with 5 others will be published in the special issue Familien Strikk, while the English pattern will be test knitted in my Ravelry group before its release.

The vest and the loose sleeves are knitted using 4 mm/US 6 to create a dense fabric with an Worsted/Aran yarn gauge of 18 sts and 28 rows in stockinette stitch and Double Seed stitch. The set is available in sizes XS to 2XL with a finished bust measurement of 84 to 126 cm/33 to 49.5″. It can easily be adjusted by changing the stitch numbers in the sides in the reverse stripes (welt pattern) and by making the bottom band longer or removing pattern repeats. The sample made by sponsored yarn was knitted by Grete Jenssen, aka ma9 on Ravelry, with her usual amazing speed with recommended modifications such as adding extra rows to the I-cord edge along each front.

The vest is worked in rows in one piece to the armhole where it is separated. Each front has a 3-sts I-cord edge that is worked at the same time as the vest. Both the narrow neckline and the armhole band has an I-cord bind off but the armhole band is worked in the round with a Double Seed stitch band. If you prefer a smaller armhole band continue working decreases. To achieve a looser bottom band, use a provisional cast-on method, and then make an I-cord bind off instead.

Both loose sleeves can be used as a belt, merely by pinning them together or you can use one as a neck tie. To close the vest, I figured out I could easily use one of Kaja Gjedebo’s large earrings called Magnolia in oxidized silver. It fits well together with Ivy hanging earrings with fresh water pearls and with the wide Caprifol ring, also in oxidized silver.

Above you see one loose sleeve used as a neck tie, perfect on a cold day as on our photo shoot day late in May. Well at least it did not rain. Next photos in this series are the ones of the Sculpted Frost Jacket, the last of the 6 designs to be included in the Familien Strikk magazine.