The Ribboned Crop Top

It’s the holiday season, when all us knitters put aside our own knitting in favor of making all the gifts for family, friends, neighbors, and folks we meet on the street. Making for others is the most fulfilling thing I can do with my time and energy—BAHAAAHAHAAAHAAAAAA! Just kidding. As I’ve said time and again, I’m a selfish knitter, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. (Props to those of you who knit for others; it’s just not my thing.) It’s December, it’s cold, and I want a new cozy pullover FOR ME. Enter the Ribboned Crop Top from Interweave Knits Winter 2020.

In addition to being a selfish knitter, I am also an impatient knitter. I want a new sweater, and I want it now. I just don’t have the patience for an intricate, fine-gauge lace sweater at the moment. I want a fast project that I can crank out quickly and wear as soon as possible. The Ribboned Crop Top is a great crank-it-out-and-wear-it sweater for a few reasons.

First, it’s super easy: knit a round, purl a round, and a few slipped stitches for accent. Somehow, I’ve never worked with slipped stitches before; I love the design they make! It’s one of those techniques that is dead simple but has a lot of punch. It makes a fancy side-interest pattern and only uses one color of yarn per round—that’s the kind of colorwork I’m in the mood for.

Two, the Ribboned Crop Top is worked in bulky yarn on large needles; it chugs right along! I started this sweater a couple of weeks ago, and I’m almost done with the body. I am planning to lengthen it a bit, as supercropped tops aren’t my style; I’m making a size 40½”, but I’m using the chart for the larger sizes to add a few more rounds to the body. But with a slightly longer length, it’s still not going to take terribly long to make.

Three, it’s potato-chip knitting. Switching colors every two rounds makes your progress both very obvious and very satisfying. I love the original tonal gray and black combination; for my sweater, I went with a dark navy and a coppery color. (My partner gleefully pointed out that they’re Denver Broncos colors, which I was not planning, but I guess is a good thing?) It’s subdued, but not boring, and every time I change colors, I know I’m two rounds closer to being finished.

I’m hoping to finish my Ribboned Crop Top before the holidays so I can wear it as much as possible this winter. Which sweaters are you looking forward to wearing this season?

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