This 1930s inspired blouse is a show-stopper from start to finish. The lacework mimics the dogwood leaves that turn the richest shade of reddish-brown in October. The small tips of the leaves are echoed at the sleeve edges to bring forward that autumnal look. That dagger collar is so sharp that should be outlawed! The seed stitch around the yoke and the collar is the the perfect chameleon stitch pattern, which can give the garment a dressed up or dressed down look depending on what type of styling you’re going for.

This pattern is worked in a classic 1930s construction that should be familiar to most of you who have worked from Squid School patterns, but the winds take a wild turn once you reach the dagger collar. The collar is worked seamlessly with the front piece of your body - yep, not a single seam or pick up in sight! It is created using a rapid increase method once you split the front stitches in half. All those stitches get added in while you’re working the remainder of the front, then the back collar gets joined with the front after the shoulder bind off! You can choose to leave it as is (as the sample shows) or add a crochet chain stitch to the inner edges so they look identical to the outer edge.

Autumn Serenade is classified as an intermediate pattern. Patterns receive this classification typically when they are asking you to work shaping while maintaining a lace pattern, which happens here around the armhole and sleeve cap shaping. The rest of the body is worked with an “all-in-one” style of shaping after the waistband, so you don’t have to worry about keeping track of stitches outside of the lace repeat for the torso section.

All my patterns are made using a body measurement x gauge system, which means that the garment is perfectly tailored to your body and is fully size inclusive! All the information on how to create this sweater and all the other patterns at Squid School are available exclusively at Squid’s School of Vintage Knitting! Come join in on the fun!