A Letter From Michelle: The Joyce
A Letter From Michelle
A cable adds width exactly where it sits. Go and look at where yours sit.
On why the cables on this one run down the middle and nowhere else, the six things I would not give up on, and why the Joyce is $59.95.
A woman tried a cable sweater on in the store last winter, looked at herself for about two seconds, and took it straight back off.
She said what a lot of women say about cable knit, which is that it makes her look broad. She was right about that sweater and wrong about cables.
A cable is a rope of stitches lifted up off the surface, and anything raised adds width exactly where it sits. That sweater had cables running the full width of the front.
The Joyce has cables too. It puts them in two narrow columns on either side of the buttons, running straight down the middle, and fills everything else with something flat.
Six things I would not give up on.
The cables run down the middle
Two narrow ropes of cable, one on each side of the button band, running from the neckline down to the hem. That is the only place on this cardigan where the knit lifts into rope. You get the texture a cable gives you, in a narrow strip straight down your middle, which is the one direction you actually want a line to run.
“The pink looks lovely with my gray pants. I especially like the little cables running beside the buttons.”
Marlene H., AppletonDiamonds where the cable would have been
Look at what fills the rest of it. Large diamonds, raised just enough to catch the light, worked right across the front where the rope deliberately is not, and out along both sleeves. The texture is everywhere and it is loud nowhere, which is why it still reads as texture from a foot away instead of flattening out into a pattern.
“I bought the Joyce for a family lunch and wore it buttoned over a white top. The pink was a nice change from the navy I usually choose. I liked the mix of diamond shapes and cables across the front. There’s plenty of detail without a busy print. I’ve worn it much more casually since then, too.”
Lorraine F., MedfordA V-neck, which is the rest of that line
The neckline is a V rather than a crew, and it is not only a styling choice. It carries on the same vertical the cables are drawing, from the collarbone upward instead of down. It is also the practical one if you wear collars. A V sits outside a shirt collar and frames it, where a crew neck covers half of it and you spend the afternoon tugging the shirt back out.
“I wanted a V-neck cardigan to wear over collared shirts. This frames the collar nicely without covering it up. The textured pattern makes it more interesting than my plain work sweaters.”
Denise R., LynchburgRibbed edges, and four buttons you can see
Four light buttons, a tan rather than the color of the knit, set on a ribbed band that runs the full length of the front. The ribbing is at the cuffs and the hem as well, so the edges pull in where the body is cut loose. That is what the word vintage in the name is pointing at: ribbed edges, and buttons in a color of their own.
“The vintage look drew me to this one. It reminds me of the classic cardigans I’ve always enjoyed wearing, especially with the ribbed edges and light-colored buttons. I took it along for a weekend visiting a friend. It worked with jeans one day and a skirt the next. A lovely extra layer to have on hand.”
Suzanne P., WenatcheeFour colors, and all four are solid
Pink, Camel, Apricot, and Red. Every one of them is a single flat color, which is the point rather than an omission. The texture is already doing the looking-at, so the color does not have to. It also means the cardigan will go over a patterned blouse without the two of them arguing, which is the part that gets awkward when the cardigan has a print of its own.
“I leave mine open over patterned blouses so you can still see the shirt underneath. The solid pink works particularly well with a floral blouse I already had. Glad I chose something that fits into my closet so easily.”
Brenda W., Cedar RapidsSix sizes, and nothing to think about
S through 3XL, every size the same price, cut relaxed through the body with the shoulder seam dropped past the shoulder. And the one demand it makes: it goes in the machine, but on a low temperature, and it does not go in the dryer. That is the entire care instruction. There is nothing else to remember, which is most of why a cardigan like this actually gets worn.
“Pretty knit detail, nice simple buttons. Exactly the sort of cardigan I like with jeans.”
Annette C., TopekaThe Joyce, against what you have been buying
| Most $60 cardigans | The Joyce | |
|---|---|---|
| The cable | Across the whole front, adding width | Two narrow columns on either side of the buttons |
| The rest of it | Flat knit everywhere the cable is not | Raised diamonds, right out along the sleeves |
| The neckline | A crew neck, and it stops there | A V that carries the line on upward |
| The edges | Ribbing at the cuffs only, or none at all | Ribbed at the band, the cuffs, and the hem |
| The buttons | Matched to the knit so they disappear | Four light tan ones, there to be noticed |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | S through 3XL, and every size one price |
Why we are clearing them out now
The Joyce was $299.95, and that number was for where the texture sits: cables in two columns on either side of the button band, raised diamonds across everything else, a V-neck cut to sit outside a collar, and four light buttons on a ribbed band. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money for a cardigan. But the store turns twenty this year, and my daughters Julie and Amy are both at the counter most days now, which is not something I let myself count on in 2006. We wanted to mark it by handing something back to the women who kept those doors open, so it is going out at a fifth of what it was.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. A cable knit can look like something you chose or like a costume, and the difference is where the rope sits. This is the one you buy before the first cold morning, not on it. If it turns out to be the cardigan you put on when you want to look like you thought about it, then $59.95 was never the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,369+ reviews
$299.95$59.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- Cable columns on either side of the button band
- Raised diamond texture across the body and sleeves
- A V-neckline that sits outside a collar
- Four light buttons on a ribbed band
- Ribbed cuffs and hem
- Long sleeves, relaxed through the body
- Pink, Camel, Apricot, or Red
- Sizes S through 3XL — one price
- Machine wash cool · do not tumble dry
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every color and every size the same price · while sizes last
One more thing, and then I will let you go.
Go and find the cable knit you own, or the one you tried on once and put back on the rack. Look only at where the rope actually sits on it.
If it runs the full width of the front, that is what you were reacting to in the mirror, and it was never the cables themselves.
So look at the Joyce the day the box arrives. If it is not what I have described, send it back within thirty days and we will refund you.
With love and gratitude,
— Michelle · The Hayes Family Hamptons
FIND YOUR SIZE — $59.95 →This is a personal letter from Michelle Hayes, co-founder of The Hayes Family Hamptons. Customer reviews are quoted as written. · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.