The pattern for the Kit & Kat Pullovers was recently published in Interweave Knits Gifts 2014 (first three photos courtesy of F&W Media/Interweave Press). The doll's version, sized to fit American Girl-type dolls, uses sport weight yarn, and the girls' version uses aran weight yarn, so that the stitch patterns are of similar scale for both girl and doll.
I didn't choose the name "Kit & Kat," but it does remind me of a story from my veterinarian days: I was working at South Bay Veterinary Group, in Boston's South End, when a woman brought in a cat named "Spic." When I first saw the name on the medical record, I thought "Well, that's kind of offensive; I'm surprised someone would give a cat a name like that." But then a few minutes into the examination, the woman mentioned that she used to have another cat, which had recently died. And that cat's name was Span. "Spic & Span," get it?
Anyway. The working name I used for this design was the "Lucina Shell Pullovers," because the lace edging around the hem and cuffs is the "Lucina Shell" pattern from one of Barbara Walker's Treasuries. I like the three-dimensional quality of this stitch pattern, which results from stitches being rapidly increased and then decreased to form the "shells." Once I had the idea of having the shells flow into ribs, the rest of the design followed: the shell borders form a slight peplum and belled sleeve cuffs, and the ribs give a more fitted look to the body and sleeves.
Cascade 220 Superwash Sport yarn was used for the doll's version, and Aran for the girls'. These are great yarns for children's clothes because they are machine washable, and can even be tumble dried (although for this design, you would be better off reshaping and drying flat). They also come in a big range of colors.
I finished the sample for the doll's version last spring, while visiting my granddaughters, and they were kind enough to let me use one of their American Girl dolls as a model. As you can see, the camera loves her!