Tricolored Capelet
- nataliapleshko
- Nov 16, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 15, 2025
Knit pattern of capelet in 3 contrasting colors
The Tricolored Capelet is a light and airy accessory that is great for spring or summertime. The capelet works sideways and uses very soft, ribbon-like cotton yarn that drapes easily. Three colors are used, and they repeat in front and back.
Inspiration
The idea for the design started with the yarn. During one of our local annual yarn crawls (Charlotte Area Yarn Crawl), I grabbed a few balls of Jody Long Cottontails. I didn't have any patterns in mind and didn't know what color to choose, so I selected three colors that look good together.
A few months pass before I start making any swatches with this yarn. And I like the fabric in this soft cotton yarn very much, I decided I'll create a design and will use all three colors, because they all look great :).
Because this is cotton, and it's very soft, I wanted something light for the spring or summer. Idea of something easy and lacy that you can put on your shoulders, but don't want to make a shawl, so here we go, I got the capelet. I didn't want horizontal stripes and decided to go with color blocks with vertical color change. So, the Tricolored Capelet was born.
Yarn
If you think about cotton yarn, what first comes to mind? Many probably think about sturdy cotton for a dishcloth. Forget it here; if you touch Jody Long Cottontails, you'll be surprised how soft and flexible cotton can be.
Look what KFI (the distributor of many kinds of yarn) says about this yarn:
Jody Long stumbled across this yarn in an Italian spinner's booth and fell in love with it. They referred to it as "vegan cashmere" because this supremely soft & plush yarn is soft as cashmere, but vegan containing no animal fibers - spun from soft, delicious long fiber cotton. Creates beautifully comfortable knits and is soft as Peter Rabbit's tail - Jody decided to call this fun yarn "Cotton Tails".
Jody Long Cottontails is called as aran weight yarns, but it feels much lighter; it has 164 yds (150 m)/ 2.65 oz (75 g), and it is 100% Cotton.
For the sample, I used colors: 01 Polar, 04 Elephant, and 07 Mallard.
Great yarn, highly recommend!
Construction
The capelet works sideways. You'll start with a Provisional Cast On, the length of the CO will be the height of the capelet. You'll work segments of short rows and lace stitch pattern in each of the three colors, and then repeat all three colors again; the front and back look the same.
As you work on the segments, the bottom zig-zagging border is incorporated into the work.
You'll finish your work with a Kitchener stitch for garter stitches. I added to the pattern video tutorial for the grafting.
Stitch pattern
For the project, you'll be using 3 stitch patterns:
Garter stitch, while making short rows.
Simple lace stitch, slightly divided with reverse stockinette rows.
Border Lace stitch is a mix of garter and lace.
For the lace stitches, I included charts and written instructions.
All stitch patterns are very simple and easy to remember.
Skills needed to make the Tricolored Capelet
You need to know how to do knit and purl stitches, yarn over, and simple decreases (K2tog, Ssk). Provisional cast on, German short rows, and grafting garter stitch. Video tutorials for the last three are on my YouTube channel @natalia_yarncraft and included in the pattern. I added a link for grafting above. Here are also:
Provisional Cast On with Crochet Hook
German Short Rows
Size
The pattern is written for one adult size, but it also gives instructions on how to change the size if you need it.
Finished measurements: upper circumference 38” (95 cm), lower circumference 60” (150 cm), length from top to bottom 10” (25 cm).
What do you need to make the capelet
Yarn: 3 colors of worsted weight yarn, each color 126 yds (115 m), or a total of 379 yds (345 m).
Sample made with Jody Long Cottontails 100% Cotton, 165 yds (150 m)/2.65 oz (75 g), colors 01 Polar, 04 Elephant, and 07 Mallard.
Needles: size US 8 (5 mm) straight or circular needles.
Notions: scrap yarn, 2 markers, tapestry needle.
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