I have been knitting for many years, and mainly have wanted to knit sweaters, with brief detours into socks, mittens, and accessories along the way. Making my first hand knit skirt was a big deal for me this year. It took some math to get going as usual, but I am very happy with my result. For those who would like a view into the creative process, I present in this post my project notes, starting from initial calculations to modifications on the fly for a custom fit. If you’ve knit a skirt before, or have knit this pattern, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.
Cabled Handknit Skirt Project Notes
Pattern: Sourcebook Skirt, by Norah Gaughan
Yarn used: Rowan SoftYak DK
Needles:
-
- US 4 – 3.5 mm
- US 6 – 4.0 mm
04-27-2026
It’s my first knitted skirt project!
I need this to be shorter in length than the numbers for my waist and hip would be.
Good news: My swatched row gauge is shorter than pattern gauge, so some shrinkage will be innate without modification, presuming the work does not stretch too much with weight of the fabric.
Also, I want it to start at my natural waist, which will help with that length issue as well. The 4th size in the pattern should give me the result I want.
Fallback plan: can omit straight knit rows if I’m already at target length after decreases, can do a fold hem at the bottom as a “fix it in post” workaround.
These plans are after reading the pattern and schematic a number of times, doing math, and deciding I’d prefer not re-design the whole pattern if I can avoid it.
07-06-2026
I’ve now finished the first decrease sequence. I put the skirt on holders and “tried it on” and it is quite a lot more wide than I. But the length is not far from where I’d like it to hit, so I am modifying the second set of decreases:
No “rest rows” in between, but continue to decrease every other round 6 times. 24 stitches less should be 0 ease for my hips if my gauge held.
It is quite beautiful, and I am enjoying this project My fallback is to continue up and make it a dress if the skirt width/length thing doesn’t work out.
07-17-2026
I worried my escalated decrease plan would be too aggressive, so I did every other round for 3 rounds and every 3rd round for the next 3 rounds (6 more total).
I tried it on using safety pins and it fits just how I wanted.
to finish, I am knitting 2 inches straight, then will do the decrease round per instructions before the ribbing commences. This should get me to a skirt that sits from my natural waist rather than mid-hip.
09-29-2026
Note on finishing: it was the size and shape I wanted, but the ribbing on the waistband is a little loose. I think this has to do with the 50% cotton in the yarn. Anyway, a crochet chain drawstring did the trick!!