Cruiser Cabled Colorblock Capelet in Tahki Yarns Donegal Tweed - Downloadable PDF

Cruiser Cabled Colorblock Capelet – Knitting Pattern by Teresa Chorzepa in Tahki Yarns Donegal Tweed

The Cruiser Cabled Colorblock Capelet is a beautifully structured knitted capelet designed by Teresa Chorzepa and published by Tahki Stacy Charles Inc. This downloadable PDF pattern produces a sophisticated, cozy capelet featuring bold cable panels and a striking two-color colorblock design. Available in three sizes — Small/Medium, Large/XL, and 2X/3X — this intermediate-level project is a rewarding knit for crafters ready to expand their cable and colorwork skills.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a cabled colorblock capelet, a seamless garment that drapes over the shoulders and upper body. It is worked bottom-up in the round, beginning at the wider lower hem and tapering upward toward the neckband. The finished piece has a generous bottom circumference of 51¾ to 63¼ inches and a top circumference of 22¼ to 27 inches below the neckband, with a consistent length of 16½ inches including the neckband. The silhouette is shaped through strategic decrease rounds worked throughout the body, giving the capelet its graceful, tapered drape.

Colorblock Design

One of the most distinctive features of this capelet is its two-color colorblock construction. The lower portion of the capelet is worked in color A — dark khaki (#895), while the upper section transitions to color B — bright olive (#851). The color change is integrated directly into the cable pattern rounds, creating a clean, intentional visual break that highlights the garment's architectural cable panels. This colorblock approach adds a modern, graphic quality to an otherwise classic cable design.

Techniques Used

• Bottom-up construction: The capelet is cast on at the widest point and worked upward, allowing the shaping to be managed through decrease rounds as the piece progresses toward the neckband.
• Working in the round: The entire capelet is knitted in the round on circular needles, eliminating seams for a smooth, continuous fabric. Two circular needle lengths are used — a 29-inch needle for the lower body and a 16-inch needle for the upper section near the neckband.
• Cable knitting: Intricate cable panels run throughout the body of the capelet, creating rich texture and visual interest. Cables are worked using a cable needle to hold stitches either in front or in back before knitting, producing the characteristic twisted rope and braid effects.
• Shaping with decreases: Multiple decrease rounds using K2tog (knit two together), P2tog (purl two together), and ssk (slip, slip, knit) are incorporated at regular intervals to reduce the stitch count and shape the capelet from hem to neck.

Stitches Used

This pattern employs a rich vocabulary of knitting stitches and cable techniques. Knitters should be comfortable with the following:

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The base fabric reference used for gauge, worked in the round as knit every round.
• Knit and purl combinations: Panels of knit and purl stitches frame the cables and create the textural contrast throughout the pattern repeats.
• C6B (Cable 6 Back): Slip 3 stitches to cable needle and hold in back, knit 3, then knit 3 from cable needle — creates a right-leaning six-stitch cable.
• C4B (Cable 4 Back): Slip 2 stitches to cable needle and hold in back, knit 2, then knit 2 from cable needle — a classic right-leaning four-stitch cable.
• C4F (Cable 4 Front): Slip 2 stitches to cable needle and hold in front, knit 2, then knit 2 from cable needle — a left-leaning four-stitch cable.
• C4L: Slip 3 stitches to cable needle and hold in front, knit 1, then knit 3 from cable needle — a