Summer Garden Shawl Cardigan


Summer Garden Shawl Cardigan

 

Made from a Colinette wool throw pack - I ignored the pattern provided for the throw and used the contents to make the cardigan below. The only difficulty with using these throw packs is that they often contain discontinued yarns - a problem if you want to reproduce the item.

 

600g total of Colinette yarn:

 

7mm hook

 

The beautiful fastener is a hand-tooled leather hair clasp from Hideaway in Ruthin, Wales.

 

 

 

 

Instructions (UK Terminology)

 

dc = UK double crochet = USA single crochet

tr = UK treble = USA double crochet

 

It is simply a rectangle with arms - the top of the rectangle drapes down to form a shawl collar and the ends wrap across the front.

 

Click here for a full-size version of this diagram - fits UK sizes 12-16 (US 10-14).

 

Tips:

 

 

 

The one shown above was created using ripple stitch:

 

3ch counts as 1 tr throughout

 

Foundation chain: multiple of 16 stitches + 1 (and add 3 for turning chain)

 

Row 1: tr into 4ch from hook, 6 tr, *sk 2 ch, 6 tr, (1tr, 2ch, 1tr), 6tr* repeat from * to * ending with 2 tr into last ch.

 

Row 2: 3ch, tr into same place as turning ch, 6 tr, *sk 2 ch, 6 tr, (1tr, 2ch, 1tr), 6tr* repeat from * to * ending with 2 tr into last ch.

 

Repeat row 2.

 

Because I was unsure about the quantity of wool I had, I varied the pattern slightly by using a filet ripple stitch for the second row of every repeat when using the ribbon-type yarn only.

 

To achieve the pattern on the shawl cardigan, I changed colour every two rows for the most part:

 

1 row colour B

1 row colour C

1 row colour B

1 row colour C

2 rows colour A

2 rows colour B

2 rows colour C

2 rows colour D

2 rows colour E

2 rows colour F

 

but had more yardage of the mohair (A, B, C), so added a band of those alone:

 

2 rows colour A

2 rows colour D

2 rows colour F

 

I made the arm hole split at this point by attaching the yarn at a point roughly 8 in from one edge (join at either a peak or trough) and adding a multiple of 8 ch + 1 to span enough peaks and troughs to suit my needs - roughly 10 in - and then slip-stitch to a peak or trough and fasten off. NB 8 ch is half a repeat (peak to trough); 16 ch is a full repeat (peak to peak). On the next row crochet up to and then across the chain, creating a split in the fabric.

 

then went back to the main pattern:

 

2 rows colour A

2 rows colour B

2 rows colour C

2 rows colour D

2 rows colour E

2 rows colour F

 

then another mohair band in the middle of the back:

 

1 row A

1 row D

2 rows F

1 row D

1 row A

 

then reversed the pattern to go across the rest of the back:

 

2 rows colour F

2 rows colour E

2 rows colour D

2 rows colour C

2 rows colour B

2 rows colour A

 

Created the second armhole here ...

 

then a mohair band:

 

2 rows colour F

2 rows colour D

2 rows colour A

 

then the main pattern to finish:

 

2 rows colour F

2 rows colour E

2 rows colour D

2 rows colour C

2 rows colour B

2 rows colour A

1 row colour C

1 row colour B

1 row colour C

1 row colour B

 

The arms were added by attaching the yarn to the underarm point of the split created earlier and using a simple mesh stitch (due to a limited amount of wool)

 

Mesh stitch (circular):

 

Foundation row: 1ch, 1dc into same place, *5 ch, sk 3 stitches, dc*, repeat from * to * to last 3 stitches, 2ch, tr into first dc of this row.

 

1st row and subsequent rows: 1ch, 1dc into top of tr from previous row, *5ch, dc into ch loop from previous row* repeat from * to * to last loop, 2ch, tr into first dc of this row.

 

Repeat row 1 until arms reach desired length - this is a very stretchy stitch so keep checking it.

 

Final row: 1ch, 1dc into top of tr from previous row, *3ch, dc into ch loop from previous row* repeat from * to * to last loop, 3ch, sl st to close row.

 

 

I added rows of tr to the top edge to finish off the collar, and 1 row of tr to the bottom edge just to tidy it off.