Gigi Skirt in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK - RM007-00008-ENPFRP - Downloadable PDF

Gigi Skirt in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK by Quail Studio – Pattern Summary

The Gigi Skirt is a beautifully crafted knitted skirt designed by Quail Studio and worked in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK yarn. This intermediate-level knitting pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and offers a sophisticated two-colour fairisle design that creates a stylish, feminine silhouette. The skirt is shaped through gradual waist decreases, giving it a flattering fit across a wide range of sizes.

What Is Being Made

The Gigi Skirt is a full-length knitted skirt featuring a fairisle colourwork pattern and an elasticated waistband. It is constructed in two identical pieces — a back and a front — which are seamed together at the sides. The skirt is designed to fit hips ranging from 76–81 cm up to 157–162 cm (approximately 30–64 inches), making it an exceptionally inclusive pattern with nine size options. The actual waist circumference of the finished garment ranges from 68.5 cm to 150 cm (27 to 59 inches), and the length varies from approximately 55 to 59 cm depending on size.

Design Details and Colourwork

The Gigi Skirt features a two-colour fairisle colourwork pattern worked from a chart. The design uses an 8-stitch pattern repeat and an 8-row pattern repeat, creating an all-over geometric or traditional fairisle motif. The number of pattern repeats across each row varies by size, ranging from 13 to 26 repeats, ensuring the design scales proportionally across all sizes. The two yarn colours used are:

• Yarn A – Simply White (shade 201): the primary background colour, requiring 5 to 8 balls depending on size
• Yarn B – Trench Coat (shade 202): the contrasting colour, requiring 5 to 7 balls depending on size

Techniques Used

This pattern draws on several core and intermediate knitting techniques, making it a rewarding project for knitters who are comfortable with colourwork and garment shaping:

• Fairisle technique – Both colours are carried across each row, with the unused yarn stranded or woven in at the back of the work. This creates the characteristic two-colour patterned fabric associated with traditional fairisle knitting.
• Stocking stitch (st st) – The entire body of the skirt, including the colourwork section, is worked in stocking stitch, beginning with a knit row on the right side.
• Waist shaping – Gradual decreases are worked at each end of the needle at regular intervals to shape the skirt from the hip to the waist. The shaping sequence involves decreases on every 12th, 10th, 8th, 6th (repeated three times), and 4th rows, creating a smooth, tapered silhouette.
• Waistband construction – A folded waistband casing is worked in stocking stitch and sewn to the inside of the skirt. Elastic is threaded through the casing to create a comfortable, stretchy waistband that can slip over the hips.
• Seaming – Both side seams are joined using either back stitch or mattress stitch, the latter giving a neater, invisible finish on the right side of the fabric.
• Pressing and finishing – The finished pieces are pressed according to the yarn's care instructions before seaming, ensuring a professional result.

Stitches Used

• Stocking stitch (knit on right side, purl on wrong side) – used throughout the body and waistband
• Decrease stitches – worked at each end of shaping rows to reduce the stitch count from hip to waist
• Cast on – a standard cast on is used to begin both the back and front pieces

Materials – Yarn and Needles

The pattern is written specifically for Rowan Alpaca Soft DK, a