Pronounced “eye-oh-LANTH-ee”. Iolanthe was banished from fairydom for marrying a mortal. Thankfully, she took some really great handknits with her in exile:)

This spritely cardigan is constructed seamlessly from the top-down with asymmetrical fronts and buttonholes that are created simultaneously with the bodice. Wear it with as many or as few buttons as you like without worrying about buttonhole placement. The collar is knit separately as a tiny shawl & is sewn to the neckline after blocking.

I recommend either up to an inch of negative ease to an inch of positive ease. Both the grey and purple garments are worn with zero ease (ie. measuring the same as the model’s bust measurement).

Sleeve construction is a modified raglan: Shaping begins as a typical raglan at the top, but then adds stitches only to the sleeve-side of the raglan markers for several rows. These “Sleeve Only” increases are them followed by rows that only add stitches to the “body sides” of the raglan markers. This type of modification creates a sleeve line that is raglan at the top but mimics a set-in sleeve in the lower half of the sleeve.

Three sleeve lengths are offered. Yardage requirements for each are as follows:
Short sleeved: 2(2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3) skeins of Swans Island Organic Merino Fingering (525 yds/100g), or 2(2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4) skeins of Valley Yarns Charlemont (437 yds/100g), or approximately 705(800, 900, 1000, 1130, 1300, 1450, 1560) yards of fingering weight yarn

¾ sleeved: 2(3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5) skeins of the Plucky Knitter Silk Merino 50/50 fingering (435 yds/skein), or 845(945, 1080, 1220, 1400, 1600, 1750, 1920) yards of fingering weight yarn.

Long sleeved (not shown): 965(1070, 1205, 1340, 1520, 1710, 1870, 2040) yards fingering weight yarn.

The lace pattern for the collar is charted, and lin-by-line written instructions are also included.

Gauge is 24 st & 32 rows/4”, so there are plenty of options for fingering yarns to use. However, a yarn that will give you a bit of drape at this gauge (such as a light fingering or a fingering weight with some silk content) is highly recommended for best results with the shawl collar.