It seems I’m all knitting, all the time these days, eh? That’s because it’s cooled down here in the mid Atlantic and after years of sweater lust, I can finally have wonderful knitted clothes. Plus, I spent the last two years working in a jeans and sweatshirt environment and desperately need winter clothes.
My friend Veronik Avery (SHAMELESS NAME DROP) designed the Brooklyn Tweed Roslyn. Roslyn is a raglan style dress / tunic with a 2×2 rib turtleneck. I’ll be upfront here. I know I don’t look my best in turtlenecks, I have my mother’s short neck and rounder face and I’m busty. Logic and fashion dictate I should wear deep Vs and wraps — and they look great on me. But, I love my neck being nice and toasty and cannot resist their siren song.
Veronik designed a really lovely, classically styled tunic with beautiful proportions. I was worried I wasn’t lithe enough to pull it off. But, wanted to give it a try anyway. I used the schematics from the pattern to draft this in Garment Designer. The only change I made was taking in the lower thigh area after completing the top. I always err on the side of more side seam room for my lower thighs. Yet, tend to look better when I flatten the curve there a bit. And, after one day of wear, I took in the hip / thigh area another four inches after the yarn stretched (must get better at picking the right yarn for a project).
Sweater dresses remind me so much of 80s elementary school! I was all about the geometric sweater dress and stirup leggings. I remember getting that outfit for Christmas and couldn’t wait to show up on the first day back at school from break.
While this can be work with leggings or tights, I think I’m sticking with leggings. I’m open to opinions though on if this is a good length for me or if I should go shorter or longer in my next iteration. I’m generally terrible deciding on proportions.
I knit a sport gauge weight yarn in Cranberry from Bartlett Yarns on my standard bed machine. I thought I was going to have to hand knit my ribbing too. But, it turns out I just needed to use a massive amount of weights to prevent the ribbing from jamming on my machine. I like the yarn fine. It’s pretty affordable for 100% wool. It was a nice hand and an almost rustic look. I did find the yarn a little thin in some parts. But, it comes coned which is a huge benefit to me!
I’ll likely make Roslyn again with a crew or a V neck (or reduce the height of the turtleneck from 9 inches to at least six). I’ve already edited my draft to take out a bit of ease and accommodate for the stretch of wool (it’s supposed to have 4 inches of ease).
I love this tunic! I wear it a legitimate two times a week. It’s prefect for winter. Feels festive and on trend at the same time.
I’m currently on a crafting break. After raking about 20 bags of leaves, knitting a few pairs of socks, some scarves for my aunts and not wearing my hand brace AT ALL, my wrist tendonitis has flared back up 😧. So, I’m nursing it for a few weeks (hand brace, heat, ibuprofen) to let it heal correctly. Might be time to get caught up on my reading!
Miss Celie's Pants 
You look bright and beautiful! I think you’d look great in a longer length/dress, too!
Thanks, Aileen!
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 4:37 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Okay I love this on you ~ especially the last pic where you can see you and Jordan’s shadows. As for proportions, you are spot on. The length is correct – you don’t want to go any longer cause it will make you look older than you are and the turtleneck works. Maybe because you picked a great color to frame your face…so I would be more careful with paler colors but bright bold colors work! Can I say again how much I LOVE this and you definitely should make more!!!
Thanks, Carolyn!! I was cracking up over Jordan’s shadow too. It was either his shadow, our trash or the wind blowing super hard, lol! The other good thing about the color is it doesn’t show makeup (being so close to my face).
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 4:55 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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This colour and style looks great on you – it matches your fab glasses!
Thank you! I LOVE THESE GLASSES, lol. I’m usually a Zenni Optical person. But, these are my Warby Parker splurge.
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 5:21 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Cute tunic that looks great on you!
Thanks, Aisha!
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 5:26 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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This tunic looks so great on you! I agree that the turtleneck provides a perfect frame for your beautiful face! Proportions are spot-on. Longer would be a dress, and that would work, too. All in all—it is fabulous.
I’m so glad you told me not to frog it 😊
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 5:29 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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I love this on you, especially that vibrant red. You might try a long necklace to break it up the real estate. I think the length is just right, too. With that much covered up on top, you need something slim fitting on bottom to balance it out. If you did a V neckline you might take it longer and have a nice dress to wear with tights.
I was on my way to dinner when I read your message. First, I chuckled a lot over ‘real estate’. Then, I went searching for a longer pendent necklace I have with a large light blue stone. You were totally right. Visually, it created a nice V. Thanks for the suggestion!
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 5:41 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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My sister, who is busty, says there’s too much real estate on display when she tries on anything with a high neckline. I totally stole it from her. 😉
So sorry about the tendinitis. Wishing you prompt improvement and some good reading! 😊 The tunic looks fantastic and I think the turtleneck works really well for you.
Thanks, Hélène! I learned something new in replying to you. Where to find my accented ‘e’, lol!
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 5:43 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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😊 Does your name technically/officially have one too?
I’m with Amanda, make your own V with a long necklace. with your classic red color, you have lots of options.
This red is so pretty on you and those glasses, Oh my, can they be any cooler?
Thank you! These are my favorite pair. They’re from Warby Parker and I reach for them all the time.
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 7:18 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Another busty girl who loves turtlenecks. I agree on the necklace suggestion. Doesn’t have to be super long, just as long as you’d wear a Vneck is fine.
Thank you! I wore it out last night to dinner and I loved that I wasn’t searching for a scarf to wear with my coat. I think you are right. Just something to break up the sea of red would be great.
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 7:54 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Gorgeous! I love this color on you! And I think the proportions are just right- it would swallow you up if it were longer. Sorry about your tendonitis- I hope the flare-up flames out soon!
So cute! Short is good. I think there’s a balance with the covered-up aspect of the turtle neck and a shorter hem length. I think you got it just about right here. On the other hand, if you WANT to go a bit little longer, I think it would balance well with a lower neckline, like the v that you mentioned as one option. (I remember those 80s sweater dresses too – I had one with 3 gradation of wide purple/blue stripes that I LOVED. The bad part was that many sweaters and sweater dresses back then were made of acrylic.)
Such a good point. Yeah, I think I would have to have a deeper neckline if it were any longer. My sweater dress from elementary school was definitely acrylic and made like a squeaky sound, lol! It was pink with lavender and black geometric shapes. I loved mine too!
On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 8:21 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Proportions are spot on.Love the color too!
stunning – absolutely perfect
Wow! Pretty, and such a great colour on you! I think it would look great as an above the knee dress with elbow length sleeves as well. Hope your hand heals soon!
This is perfect tunic length and a dress length would be perfect too!
The color and fit are spot on. Love. Love. Love!!!
I think it looks fantastic.
So cute!! I’m like you, I love it with the leggings (I, personally would have a “modesty” issue with tights!). Also, love the color you selected, gorgeous with your complexion! (And I love the glasses too…too cool!)
The color is so perfect for you that its hard for me to move on to the rest of it….. but I have the same turtleneck conflict – short neck, full face, hate being chilly…..this gives me hope, although I haven’t found a magic color that likes me as much as this likes you!
I wouldn’t make the tunic proportions different at all, except I wonder how it would be with bracelet length sleeves?
ceci
It’s awesome to see you lovely face show up again! Beautiful tunic and red is definitely your color! I cannot knit by hand or machine, so I’m in awe!
Thanks, Yvonne. To be honest, I’m still in awe myself that I can knit *anything*!
On Sun, Dec 4, 2016 at 11:01 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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I think this looks fantastic on you! The turtleneck frames your face perfectly, and combined with that colour, it’s a wonderful look! I like the length too but I am not the best at picking proportions so I’ll leave that to other experts. It looks cozy and fashionable, I’m so impressed!
I don’t think you should change a thing; the length is perfect.
Now I really, really want a knitting machine. I tried four times to knit by hand and gave up. =)
This looks great on you! I’ve seen turtlenecks with a little v-neck cutout below the collar so there’s a peephole… not terribly practical unless your cleavage is always a few degrees warmer than the rest of you! but maybe it could work on an evening-wear version?
I’m going to offer a different opinion on length. I think the back is perfect as it is–your butt looks great! I actually think the front could be a little bit shorter. At it’s current length, it looks like a slightly too large sweater without pants underneath–neither here nor there. I think a bit shorter but still below the crotch would look nicer as a tunic. Maybe add side vents to allow for that high-low look? I also think a few inches longer all around would be a cute minidress on you. Agree with all the others that the turtleneck is fine, but maybe a scarf or long beads to break up the real estate. FAB color on you, and overall, a 9 out of10 just exactly as it is right now.
Of course your head is big: look at the amazing knits you’ve made! Very nice 🙂