(Skip to the end for the instructions!)

I’ve finally knitted something I like! It’s only taken me several years… 😂

I got some wool from We Are Knitters a couple of weeks back. I’m unfortunately a major sucker for a sale and when I found this wool for 30% off I couldn’t resist! I got 6 balls of The Wool yarn in the Hand Painted Sprinkle colourway. I didn’t have an exact idea of a pattern in mind but I knew I wasn’t a fan of the WAK pattern kits I’d found on their site. I figured I’d try to make something up myself or if that didn’t work, I was prepared to buy a pattern from Good Night, Day who does really lovely modern chunky knits.

In preparation for making up my own knitting pattern I made up a huge swatch of loads of different knit stitches to see what I liked and what worked. It also helped me get a proper gauge!

I used 15mm straight needles which I already had in my toolkit. (That’s part of the reason why I’d opted to make my own pattern instead of buying the Good Night, Day ones as I’d need to get new sets of chunky circular and double pointed needles to complete it). The beauty of working with giant needles and chunky wool is the sheer speed at which you can knit! The cardigan I ended up making took one full day and a few evenings to finish and that included steam blocking and seaming!

I opted to make a super simple drop shoulder oversized cardigan. The back piece is a rectangle and the fronts are slightly shaped smaller rectangles. The sleeves I kept wide and blocky with a bit of a puff at the cuff. It was as simple as I could make it!

With the amount of ease I was planning and the softness/ stretch of the wool, I knew the right angles wouldn’t create much of a fit issue. I added in a some texture with a garter stitch mixed into the stockinette stitch.

I finished my garment by gently steam blocking each piece and then seaming it together.

Compared to other garments I’ve made before this fits so much better! The last cardigan I made was from a Wool and the Gang kit and as much as I liked it, it refused to stay on my shoulders! I was also able to keep a close eye on the length of the body and sleeves to make sure it worked for my height!

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Instructions

Back

Cast on 40 stitches

Rows 1-4: K1 P1 to end of row to form a 1×1 rib stitch

Row 5: Knit all

Row 6: Purl all

Repeat stockinette stitch to Row 13 inclusive.

Row 14: Knit all

Repeat Row 5 to 14 three times more ending on Row 44.

Knit Rows 45-52 in stockinette (knit odd rows and purl even rows)

Cast off.

Front

Right side

Cast on 20 stitches

Rows 1-4: K1 P1 rib stitch to end

Row 5: Knit all

Row 6: Purl all

Repeat stockinette stitch to Row 13 inclusive.

Row 14: Knit all

Repeat Row 5 to 14 twice more ending on Row 34.

Row 35: K1, K2tog, knit to end of row (19 stitches)

Row 36: Purl

Row 37: Knit

Row 38: Purl

Row 39: K1, K2tog, knit to end of row (18 stitches)

Row 40: Purl

Row 41: Knit

Row 42: Purl

Row 43: K1, K2tog, knit to end of row (17 stitches)

Row 44: Knit

Row 45: Knit

Row 46: Purl

Row 47: K1, K2tog, knit to end of row (16 stitches remaining)

Row 48: Purl

Row 49: Knit

Row 50: Purl

Row 51: Knit

Row 52: Purl

Cast off

Left side

Repeat Rows 1-34 as above

Row 35: Knit until 3 stitches left on needle, SSK decrease, K1 (19 stitches)

Row 36: Purl

Row 37: Knit

Row 38: Purl

Row 39: Knit until 3 stitches left on needle, SSK decrease, K1 (18 stitches)

Row 40: Purl

Row 41: Knit

Row 42: Purl

Row 43: Knit until 3 stitches left on needle, SSK decrease, K1 (17 stitches)

Row 44: Knit

Row 45: Knit

Row 46: Purl

Row 47: Knit until 3 stitches left on needle, SSK decrease, K1 (16 stitches remaining)

Row 48: Purl

Row 49: Knit

Row 50: Purl

Row 51: Knit

Row 52: Purl

Cast off

Sleeve

Cast on 16 stitches

Rows 1-4: K1 P1 to end of row to form a 1×1 rib stitch

Row 5: K2, M1 until two st remaining, K2 (23 stitches)

Row 6: Purl

Row 7: K3, M1 until two st remaining, K2 (30 stitches)

Row 8: Purl

Row 9-13: Continue stockinette stitch by purling all stitches on even number rows and knitting all stitches in odd numbered rows

Row 14: Knit all

Row 15-18: Continue stockinette stitch

Row 19: K1, M1, knit until 1 stitch remaining, M1, K1 (32 stitches)

Row 20-28: Continue stockinette stitch

Row 29: K1, M1, knit until 1 stitch remaining, M1, K1 (34 stitches)

Row 30: Purl

Row 31: Knit

Row 32: Purl

Row 33-39: Knit

Cast off

Repeat for second sleeve

Assembly

Gently steam block and shape each piece

Seam the shoulders together first

Lay the garment out flat with sleeves in position so the centre of the sleeve is in line with the shoulder seam. Seam together.

Fold the garment in half as it should be worn and seam the side seam from the sleeve hem to the body hem in one.

Weave in any loose ends.