Summer Knitting with Shine Sport and the Paxton Shell

Heads up! This post contains affiliate links which means I get may get a commission if you purchase something based on my recommendations here.

I was thrilled when Knit Picks released their exclusive Paxton Shell pattern this Spring! Not only is it designed with one of my favorite yarns for summer knitting, Shine Sport, it’s also a size-inclusive knitting pattern, so I knew I wouldn’t have any problems with the fit.

Paxton is a sleeveless lace sweater made out of a cotton yarn so it’s perfect for comfortable summer knitting and wearing. The pattern sample is a the bright yellow Dandelion color, but I went for the darker purple color, Pageant. I love the added contrast.

Yarn Spotlight: Knit Picks Shine Sport

As I said, I was thrilled that this project is designed for Shine Sport because it is one of my favorite Knit Picks yarns. It’s a cotton and modal blend that feels fabulous on the skin. That touch of modal makes it so soft and adds a luster that you don’t get with just plain cotton yarn.

I started this project in late Spring, so I knew I’d be knitting into the summer and cotton yarn is wonderful for summer knitting. Because, wool + sweaty hands = felting. (Ask me how I know!)

Like all of Knit Picks yarns, Shine Sport is super affordable, which is nice when you are buying sweater quantities. I paid less than $35 for the yarn for this sweater, knitted up in the 40.75” bust size. (I ended up with almost two balls leftover, so it was really even less than that).

I’ve also used Shine Sport to knit baby blankets and stuffed animals with fabulous results. My niece LOVED her super soft rainbow blanket and I have a little army of Sheldon turtles, which is the pattern that made this yarn famous.

Paxton Shell Pattern Review

Paxton Shell, designed by Holli Yeoh, was released as a Knit Picks exclusive pattern in 2023 as part of their La Belle Epoque: Knits for Home and Abroad collection. (Knit Picks has a kit builder tool for this top that makes it easy to buy the pattern and make sure you get the right amount of yarn, so be sure to scroll down the page to check that out).

I know I already said this, but I really love that the Paxton Shell is a size-inclusive pattern. It comes in 14 sizes from a 30″ to a 74.5″ bust. And, no, the designer didn’t just pop the pattern into Excel and grade it out to a larger bust measurement. It’s clear that she really embraced the size-inclusive movement and created a pattern that will look flattering on all sizes by including shaping for the curvier sizes. I really appreciated the thoughtful tapering on my hips.

This shell is knitted flat from the hem up. The two pieces require seaming at the shoulders and sides. The shoulder construction is pretty cool – it has a neat angled seam in the back that creates nice lines. After seaming, you pick up stitches to knit bands on the neck and arms. It sounds like a lot of finishing – I hate seaming – but it really wasn’t too bad.

The lace pattern comes with written or charted instructions. The lace pattern itself isn’t complicated but there are sections of the pattern where you need to adjust the lace to account for increases and decreases in the armhole shaping. To do that, you need to understand the way lace works with a balance of yarn overs and decreases and you have to know how to sort of “read” the rows below to figure out what goes where. It’s not difficult if you have some lace projects under your belt, but I’d rate this as an intermediate-level knitting project.

I really loved knitting this top. The last sweater I knitted featured oceans of plain stockinette stitch and got a little boring. By contrast, Paxton’s lace and shaping made it a really engaing knit. I also really love wearing this top! I get so many compliments on it. It’s great to wear on hot days and I think when Fall hits, it will look nice paired with a blazer.

I struggled a little with getting gauge. I was aiming for 19 stitches over 4” and I got 21 stitches with size 4 needles and 17 with size 3 needles. Since size 3.5 needles don’t exist, as far as I’m aware, I had to pick a swatch.

I decided to go with the size 4 needle to ensure I wouldn’t knit a too-small sweater. I knitted a good chunk of the back panel until I decided that it was much bigger than I wanted it to be and I had to frog. (Sob!) Honestly, I liked the look of the smaller stitches on the swatch with the size 3 needles, so I started over with those instead of opting to go a size down. In the end, my shell turned out to have about 2” of positive ease across the bust. I think the model in the pattern photo has a little more ease than that, but I like the way mine fits a little tighter.

I will say that I didn’t fully understand how the shoulders were going to be constructed to seam at an angle at the back of the shoulders and I was knitting a little blindly at that point. If I knit this again, I would modify it so the armholes aren’t so deep, now that I understand how the pieces fit together. The deep arm holes are definitely on trend, but I think a more traditional look would suit my style a little better.

Let me know if you decide to knit this! Now I’m off to dream up what I will knit with my leftover Shine! (Perhaps another Sheldon?!)

As always, here are my pattern notes.

yarn details

Knit Picks Shine Sport in Pageant
Sport Weight
60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal
Machine Wash Cold, Tumble Dry Low
50 g /110 yd balls
Purchased in April 2023 @ $4.99 per ball

project details

pattern: “Paxton Shell” by Holli Yeoh (available to purchase here)
size knit: 40.75 inch bust
needles: US size 3 (3.25 mm) and 2.5 (3.0mm) nickel-plated fixed circular needles (the pointy tips on these ones made the lace very easy!) – I used magic loop for the neckband and arm bands, so didn’t need to worry about the cable length.
gauge: 17 stitches over 4” in lace pattern (it’s hard to count the rows in lace, so I’m not trying! lol)
yarn used: 700 yards (318 grams), about 6.4 balls – this includes the yarn I used for the swatches
duration: April – July, 2023
notes: I used the smaller needle size for the neck and arm bands, but not the hem. I wanted to keep that as stretchy as possible.