Lois - Top Knitting Pattern For Women in Debbie Bliss Piper

Lois Top Knitting Pattern for Women – Debbie Bliss Piper

The Lois is a women's knitted top designed by Debbie Bliss, worked in her Piper DK-weight yarn. This is an advanced-level knitting pattern that produces a beautifully textured, fitted top featuring intricate cable panel detailing. The finished garment is a classic, structured piece suitable for knitters who are confident working cables and reading multi-row pattern repeats.

What Is Being Made

The Lois pattern produces a women's top with short sleeves (sleeve seam including armhole edges measures 10cm/4in for all sizes). It is sized to fit bust measurements ranging from 81cm to 107cm (32in to 42in), with finished bust measurements spanning 88cm to 115cm (34¾in to 45¼in). The length to shoulder ranges from 51cm to 54.5cm (20in to 21½in) depending on the size. The design offers a neat, tailored silhouette enhanced by richly textured cable panels across the body.

Construction Techniques

The Lois top is constructed using a combination of well-established knitting techniques suited to experienced knitters:

• Bottom-up construction: The garment is worked from the lower edge upward toward the shoulders, allowing the knitter to shape the body progressively as they work.
• Worked flat: Pieces are knitted back and forth in rows on straight needles rather than in the round, producing separate front and back panels.
• Seamed finishing: The flat-knitted pieces are joined together using seaming, giving the finished top a structured, tailored fit with clean edges.
• Cable knitting: Extensive cable work is central to this design. A cable needle is used throughout to create the signature twisted and crossed stitch patterns that define the texture of the Lois top.

Stitches and Cable Abbreviations Used

The pattern employs a rich vocabulary of stitches and cable manoeuvres. Knitters should be comfortable with all of the following before beginning:

• Stocking stitch (st st): The foundational fabric stitch, worked as knit on right-side rows and purl on wrong-side rows. The tension swatch is measured over stocking stitch.
• C4B (Cable 4 Back): Slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the back, knit 2, then knit 2 from the cable needle. Creates a right-leaning cable cross.
• C4F (Cable 4 Front): Slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the front, knit 2, then knit 2 from the cable needle. Creates a left-leaning cable cross.
• T3B (Twist 3 Back): Slip 1 stitch to a cable needle held at the back, knit 2, then purl 1 from the cable needle. Used to move knit stitches diagonally across a purl background.
• T3F (Twist 3 Front): Slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the front, purl 1, then knit 2 from the cable needle. The mirror movement to T3B.
• T4B (Twist 4 Back): Slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the back, knit 2, then purl 2 from the cable needle. Moves a knit cable over two purl stitches to the right.
• T4F (Twist 4 Front): Slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the front, purl 2, then knit 2 from the cable needle. Moves a knit cable over two purl stitches to the left.
• T6B (Twist 6 Back): A more complex manoeuvre — slip 4 stitches to a cable needle held at the back, knit 2, slip the 2 purl stitches from the cable needle back to the left needle and purl them, then knit 2 from the cable needle. Creates a wide, intricate crossing with a purl column at the centre.
• T6F (