Neve Top - Knitting Pattern For Women in Debbie Bliss Iris

Neve Top – Knitting Pattern for Women in Debbie Bliss Iris

The Neve Top is a beautifully structured women's knitted top featuring rich cable detailing worked against a reverse stocking stitch background. Published by Debbie Bliss as part of the Iris collection (2019), this pattern produces a seamed, fitted top that is worked flat in pieces and joined. It is rated advanced in difficulty, making it an excellent project for experienced knitters looking to develop or showcase their cable skills.

What Is Being Made

The Neve Top is a women's slipover-style top with a structured silhouette. It is worked in two main pieces — a Back and a Front — which are seamed together on completion. The garment is sized to fit bust measurements ranging from 81–86 cm (32–34 in) up to 122–127 cm (48–50 in), with finished bust measurements spanning 96 cm (37¾ in) to 148 cm (58¼ in). The length to side neck ranges from 65 cm (25½ in) to 73 cm (28¾ in) depending on the size chosen.

Construction Techniques

• Bottom-up construction: Both the front and back pieces are worked from the cast-on edge upward, which is the traditional approach for seamed garments and allows the knitter to try on the work in progress for fit.
• Worked flat: All pieces are knitted back and forth in rows on straight needles rather than in the round, which is typical for seamed garments and makes managing complex cable panels more straightforward.
• Seamed finishing: The individual pieces are sewn together once knitting is complete, giving the finished top a clean, structured shape with stable seams.
• Cable construction: Multiple bespoke cable panels are incorporated into the design, requiring a cable needle throughout. The cables are worked over varying stitch counts and involve both front- and back-held manoeuvres.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The Neve Top employs a rich vocabulary of stitches and cable movements. Knitters should be comfortable with the following before beginning:

• Reverse stocking stitch (rev st st): The main background fabric of the garment is reverse stocking stitch — purl on the right side and knit on the wrong side — which gives the cables a pronounced, raised appearance against a textured ground.
• Garter stitch (g-st): Used as a structural or border element within the pattern.
• 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 4-stitch 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 4-stitch cable cross.
• C12R (Cable 12 Right): A complex 12-stitch cable involving slipping 8 stitches to a cable needle held at the back, knitting 4, returning 4 stitches from the cable needle to the left-hand needle, knitting those 4, then knitting the remaining 4 from the cable needle. This creates a dramatic large-scale right-leaning cable.
• C12L (Cable 12 Left): The mirror image of C12R, worked with the cable needle held at the front, producing a bold left-leaning 12-stitch cable crossing.
• T4B (Twist 4 Back): Slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the back, knit 2, then purl 2 from the cable needle — used to move a knit cable column diagonally across a purl background.
• T4F (Twist 4 Front): Slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the front, purl 2, then knit 2 from the cable needle — the companion movement to T4B for travelling cables.
• T9FP (Twist 9 Front with Purl): A specialised 9-stitch travelling cable: slip 4