mamba dress

ullen knitwear
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ullen knitwear | www.ullenknitwear.com | ©copyright2022
tag #mambadress #ullenknitwear and @ullenknitwear if you share photos on instagram. the pattern
is only for private use, and must not be copied or resold.
gauge: 24 sts x 27 r after blocking in stockinette on 4 mm is 10 x 10 cm
needle: 4 mm and 3.5 mm
sizes: 1 (2) 3 (4) 5 (6) 7 (8) 9 (10) 11
bust measurements: 75 (80) 85 (90) 95 (100) 105 (110) 115 (120) 125 cm
width: 81 (86) 91 (96) 101 (106) 111 (116) 121 (126) 131 cm
length: mini: around 88 cm, midi: around 108 cm, maxi: around 128 cm
yarn: mini-length:
250 (250) 300 (300) 350 (300) 350 (350) 400 (400) 450 g alpaca 2 by isager
yarn (50g= 250m) together with 150 (150) 200 (200) 200 (250) 250 (250)
250 (300) 300 g alpaca 1 by isager yarn (50g=400m) or 175 (175) 200 (225)
225 (225) 225 (250) 275 (275) 275 g silk mohair by isager yarn (25g=212m)

midi-length:
350 (350) 400 (400) 400 (400) 450 (450) 500 (500) 550 alpaca 2 by isager
yarn (50g= 250m) together with 200 (200) 250 (250) 250 (250) 300 (300)
300 (350) 350 g alpaca 1 by isager yarn (50g=400m) or 225 (225) 250 (275)
275 (275) 275 (275) 300 (300) 325 silk mohair by isager yarn (25g=212m)

maxi-length:
400 (400) 450 (450) 450 (450) 500 (500) 550 (550) 600 g alpaca 2 by isager
yarn (50g= 250m) together with 250 (250) 300 (300) 300 (300) 350 (350)
350 (400) 400 g alpaca 1 by isager yarn (50g=400m) or 250 (275) 300 (300)
325 (325) 350 (350) 375 (400) 400 silk mohair by isager yarn (25g=212m)

difficulty 4 av 5

explanations
short rows: in this pattern, shortrows are done with yarn overs. when the pattern says “turn”,
you do the following: if you are on the knit-side, you turn your work to the purl-side, and
vice versa. with your right needle you do a tight yarn over needle, and purl. when it states
that you should “turn” again, you do a yarn round the needle tightly, and knit. when you
arrive at the place you did the yarn-over when you do the neckline, you knit this together
with the next stitch on your needle. you have now done one round of short rows.
yarn over: put the yarn around the needle, from front to back, and hold it in place when you
knit the next sts. you have now done a yarn over.
increases: m1l: put needle through the back between two stitches, and lift onto left needle.

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knit through the back loop.
m1r: put needle through the front between two stitches, and lift onto the left needle. knit as
usual.
decreases: d1l: slip one knit-wise, knit 1, and slide the slip-stich over the knitted stitch.
d1r: knit 1, put it on your left needle and slide an unknitted stitch over the knitted from your
left needle. slide onto right needle.
edge stitch: when knitting an edge stitch, this stitch is only knit at the end of a round, and the
following explanation is used when the stitch is the first on the needle. have the thread in
front of the stitch and remove this from the wrong side, i.e. in the back part of the stitch,
without knitting it.

abbreviations
stitch: st(s), row: r, round: rnd, knit: k, purl: p, stitch marker: stm, edge stitch: es.

construction
the mamba dress is knit bottom up. first you knit the ribbing, then stockinette and structure is
explained in the pattern, and shown in diagrams. this is knit until you reach the yoke. here,
you set away sts for the underarm, as well as putting the stitches of the back yoke on hold.
the front yoke is knit back and forth, and when you reach the neckline, the shoulders are
shaped by short rows. a similar process is repeated for the back yoke, and is followed by a
kitchener stitch to sew together the shoulders. then, the neck is knitted from the active
stitches on the needles. you can choose between a turtleneck and a crewneck. lastly, you pick
up stitches for the sleeves, and knit in stockinette and diagram, while you decrease. same
process is repeated for both sleeves.

sizing
the dress has a positive ease of around 6 cm. measure your bust, add 6 cm, and this will show
what size you should knit. if you are in between sizes, measure your hip, and let this decide
what size you should knit. it’s worth noting that the dress doesn’t have a defining waist, and
will therefore be shaped by your body only. choose the size that gives a wanted fit, choose
0-3 cm positive ease for a tight fitted dress, and around 15 for an oversized fit. the dress in
the photo is knitted in size m and the model has a breast circumference of 85 cm.

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pattern
body
cast on 268 (280) 288 (300) 312 (324) 336 (348) 360 (372) 384 sts on 3.5 mm needle and
join in the round. knit ribbing like this:
1 rnd: *k 1, p 1* repeat from * until * the entire rnd.

you can choose how long you want the ribbing. if you want it to be short, like the gray dress, knit
the rnd 16 times in total so it measures around 5 cm. if you want it long like the pink dress, knit
this rnd 32 times in total so it measures around 10 cm.

now we switch to a 4 mm needle and knit the body. a round consists of the following steps:
1 rnd: *stm, k 9 (10) 11 (12) 13 (15) 16 (18) 18 (21) 22, diagram 1, k 14 (16) 17 (19) 21 (22)
24 (25) 28 (28) 30, diagram 2, k 14 (16) 17 (19) 21 (22) 24 (25) 28 (28) 30 , diagram 3, k 9 (10)
11 (12) 13 (15) 16 (18) 18 (21) 22*. repeat from * until * once more.
you have now knitted 1 rnd of the body, and put two stm to mark the front and back of the dress.

knit this round until the body measures around 66 cm for the mini, 85 cm for midi or 104 cm for
maxi. these measurements are calculated by standard height for women, which is 165 cm. if you
are taller, subtract 165cm from your height and add to the instructed body length (e.g. if you are
180 cm tall: 180-165=15 cm—knit 15 extra cm). if you are shorter, subtract your height from
165cm and knit that many fewer than the instructed body length (e.g. if you are 150cm tall:
165-150=15cm—knit 15 fewer cm). remember that the dress will grow a bit after blocking, and
that the longer the dress is, the more it will drape over time. i therefore recommend you knit the
dress 2-6 cm shorter than the wanted length.

you are going to continue following the diagrams for the front- and back yoke, and it’s important
that the cabling is done on the right side. therefore, your last row in the round for the body should
be row 1, 3, 5 or 7 in the diagram. break yarn.

yoke
front yoke
the front yoke is knit flat. start by setting the first 3 (3) 3 (4) 4 (5) 5 (6) 6 (7) 7 sts aside. with new
yarn, k stockinette and diagram over the next 128 (134) 138 (142) 148 (152) 158 (162) 168 (172)
178 sts, put 6 (6) 6 (8) 8 (10) 10 (12) 12 (14) 14 sts aside. put the next 128 (134) 138 (142) 148

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(152) 158 (162) 168 (172) 178 sts on a cable or thread, these sts are the back yoke. put the next 3
(3) 3 (4) 4 (5) 5 (6) 6 (7) 7 sts aside. the sts put aside are the sts for the sleeves, and should be kept
active. when you knit flat, i recommend you to knit edge sts for a cleaner look by slipping the last
stitch purlwise holding the yarn in front. now you knit k over k and p over p on the wrong side of
the front yoke.

start knitting the front yoke by doing decreases:

k row: k 1, d1l, k stockinette and diagram as before until 3 sts left, d1r, k 1
p row : knit over k-sts and p over p-sts
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts

knit these 4 rows a total of 4 (5) 5 (5) 6 (6) 6 (6) 4 (6) 6 times, so that you have 120 (124) 128
(132) 136 (140) 146 (150) 156 (156) 166 sts on the needle.

knit rows where you follow the stockinette and diagram as before, until the front yoke measures
around 9 (10) 11 (12) 13 (14) 15 (16) 17 (18) 19 cm. the last row should be the the purl row, and
should be row 1 in the diagram.

now we use short rows to shape the shoulders. first the left shoulder is knit.
k 48 (50) 52 (54) 56 (58) 61 (63) 68 (68) 71 sts where you follow the stockinette and diagram,
turn. on the p-side, knit over k-sts and p over p-sts. only the stockinette part of the front yoke
should include shortrows. the remaining 34 (34) 34 (35) 35 (36) 37 (38) 40 (40) 41 sts that don’t
have shortrows, are your shoulder.

do shortrows this way:

k row: k stockinette and diagram as before until 3 sts before last yarn over, turn
p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.
knit these rows a total of 1 (1) 2 (2) 2 (3) 3 (4) 4 (4) 5 time(s).

k row: k stockinette and diagram as before until 2 sts before last yarn over, turn
p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.
knit these rows a total of 2 (4) 3 (3) 4 (3) 4 (3) 4 (4) 4 times.

k row: k stockinette and diagram as before until 1 sts before last yarn over, turn
p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.

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knit these rows a total of 5 (4) 4 (6) 6 (6) 6 (6) 6 (6) 6 times. break the yarn.

now you knit the right shoulder.

slide all stitches to until 1 st after diagram 2 onto your right needle without knitting them. with
new yarn and starting from the stockinette section, make a yarn over and knit stockinette and
diagram as before. the shortrows are made on the purl side like this:

p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts until 3 sts before the last yarn over, turn
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
knit these rows a total of 1 (1) 2 (2) 2 (3) 3 (4) 4 (4) 5 time(s).

p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts until 2 sts before the last yarn over, turn
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
knit these rows a total of 2 (4) 3 (3) 4 (3) 4 (3) 4 (4) 4 time(s).

p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts until 1 sts before the last yarn over, turn
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
knit these rows a total of 5 (4) 4 (6) 6 (6) 6 (6) 6 (6) 6 times. then knit the p row one more time.

the remaining 34 (34) 34 (35) 35 (36) 37 (38) 40 (40) 41 sts that don’t have shortrows, are your
shoulder. break the thread.

back yoke
with new yarn, do 1 knit row and 1 purl row while following the diagrams.
start doing decreases:
k row: k 1, d1l, k stockinette and diagram as before until 3 sts left, d1r, k 1.
p row : knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.

knit these 4 rows a total of 4 (5) 5 (5) 6 (6) 6 (6) 6 (6) 6 times, so that you have 120 (124) 128
(132) 136 (140) 146 (150) 156 (156) 166 sts on the needle.

knit rows where you follow the stockinette and diagram as before, until the back yoke measures
around 11 (12) 13 (14) 16 (17) 18 (19) 20 (21) 22cm, about 3 cm longer than the front yoke. the
last row should be the p row, and should be row 1 in the diagram.

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now we use short rows to shape the shoulders. first the right shoulder is knit.
k 48 (50) 51 (54) 56 (58) 61 (63) 68 (68) 71 sts where you follow the stockinette and diagram,
turn. on the p-side, knit over k-sts and p over p-sts. knit this way:
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before until 3 sts before last yarn over, turn
p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.
knit these rows a total of 2 (2) 3 (3) 3 (4) 4 (5) 5 (5) 6 times.

k row: k stockinette and diagram as before until 2 sts before last yarn over, turn
p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.
knit these rows a total of 2 (4) 3 (3) 4 (3) 4 (4) 4 (4) 4 times .

1 rnd: 1. r: k stockinette and diagram as before until 1 sts before last yarn over, turn
2. r: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts.
knit these rows a total of 2 (1) 1 (3) 3 (2) 2 (1) 3 (3) 3 times.

the remaining 34 (34) 34 (35) 35 (36) 37 (38) 40 (40) 41 sts that don’t have shortrows, are your
shoulder. break the thread.

now we knit the left shoulder.

slide all stitches to until 1 st after diagram 2 onto your right needle without knitting them. with
new yarn, make a yarn over and k stockinette and diagram as before. the shortrows are made on
the purl row. knit the shortrows like this:

p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts until 3 sts before the last yarn over, turn
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
knit these rows a total of 2 (2) 3 (3) 3 (4) 4 (5) 5 (5) 6 times.

p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts until 2 sts before the last yarn over, turn
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
knit these rows a total of 2 (4) 3 (3) 4 (3) 4 (4) 4 (4) 4 time(s).

p row: knit over k-sts and p over p-sts until 1 sts before the last yarn over, turn
k row: k stockinette and diagram as before
knit these rows a total of 2 (1) 1 (3) 3 (2) 2 (1) 3 (3) 3 time(s).

the remaining 34 (34) 34 (35) 35 (36) 37 (38) 40 (40) 41 sts that don’t have shortrows, are your
shoulder. break the thread.

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sew the shoulders together by using kitcheners stitch. you should have about 104 (112) 116 (124)
132 (136) 144 (148) 160 (160) 168 sts that are active to knit the neck.

neck
with new yarn, k 1 round where you knit the yarn overs together with the knit stitches, as well as
following diagram 2. where the yarn over is done from the p row, the yarn overs are knit together
with the next st on the needle (knit 2 together) and where the yarn over is made from the k row,
you knit it together with the previous st on the needle (slide 1 st onto right needle, slide 1 yarn
over on right needle, k these to together).

switch to 3.5 mm needle. now knit the ribbing this way:

1 rnd: *k 1, p 1.* repeat * until * for the entire round.

(if you want a tighter neck, *k 1, p 1, k 1, p 2 together* repeat *until * for the first round. make
sure you end up with an even number of sts. this way, the neck is a bit higher up and not that wide.
this was done on the grey dress. )

for crewneck: knit this round for 10 cm, and fold the neckline inwards. sew the active sts together
with the purl sts at the start of the neckline. add an elastic at the fold for the neck to keep its shape.

for turtleneck: knit this round for 25 cm, and finish with a loose italian bind off. a tip is to fold the
turtleneck outwards and sew it along the beginning of the neckline, so it keeps its shape.

remember that the longer the dress is, the heavier it is and the more the neck will be stretched out.
sew the neck or add elastic to help the dress keep its shape.

sleeves
with new yarn, pick up 86 (88) 92 (96) 100 (104) 108 (112) 116 (120) 124 sts with needle 4 mm,
including the sts you put aside when knitting the front yoke. put the first stm where you used
kitchener stitch so it marks the top of the sleeve, and a second stm under the arm. make sure that
your stitches are equally divided between both stm. knit this way:

1 rnd: knit until 12 sts before the first stm, k diagram 2, knit until the second stm.
repeat this round while simultaneously decreasing every 11 (11) 10 (10) 9 (9) 8 (8) 7 (7) 6 cm 4
times by *knit until 3 sts before middle of the underarm, d1l, k 2, d1r, k*.

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knit until the sleeve measures around 54 (52) 50 (48) 46 (44) 42 (40) 38 (36) 34 cm or 5 cm
shorter than wanted length for the short ribbing, or if you want the longer ribbing, around 49 (47)
45 (43) 41 (39) 37 (35) 33 (31) 29 cm or 10 cm shorter than your wanted length. you should now
have 78 (80) 84 (88) 92 (96) 100 (104) 108 (112) 116 sts on your needles.

switch to needle 3.5. knit the ribbing this way:

1 rnd: *k 1, p 1* repeat from * until * for the entire round.

knit this rnd 32 times in total so it measures around 10 cm or 16 times so it measures 5 cm. finish
with a loose italian bind off. repeat the process for the second sleeve.

fasten the threads. block the dress for a smoother finish. enjoy!

diagrams
diagram 1

diagram 2

diagram 3

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k 1

p1

slip 2 sts in the back (e.g. on a cable needle), knit the next 2 sts, then the slipped 2 sts

slip 2 sts in the front (e.g. on a cable needle), knit the next 2 sts, then the slipped 2 sts