The Feather Cardigan is a lightweight drop-shoulder cardigan, ideal for layering. It is worked top-down, and the body and sleeves are knitted in the round. To begin, the back panel panel is worked with shaping throughout. You will then form each shoulder in turn. The shoulders also have shaping throughout to mirror the back. Next, you will connect the front and back panels and you then work some decreases through the body to give the cardigan some extra shape. Once the body is completed, you will add on the collar, sleeves, and button band. To finish, you will sew up faux seams on the body and sleeves to add structure to the fabric and, optionally, sew some ribbon onto the button band to reinforce it.

Please also note that this is a digital download and not a physical knitting pattern. It has been formatted for A5 paper. For pattern support, please email me.

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Materials & Fit

Notions: You will need the following needles:

• 3.5 mm / US 4 circular needles with a 40-cm / 16-in cord
• 4 mm / US 6 circular needles with a 40- and 80-cm/100-cm / 16- and 32-in/40-in cord
• 6 mm / US 10 circular needles with a 40- and 80-cm/100-cm / 16- and 32-in/40-in cord

Depending on your preferences, you may also find 4 mm / US 6 and 6 mm / US 10 double-pointed knitting needles useful for the sleeves.

You will also need some stitch markers, a darning needle, and possibly some shirring elastic to reinforce the collar. You will also need some 20-mm buttons (I used 8) and, optionally, some 25-mm ribbon.

Tension: 14 stitches x 20 rows and rounds in Stockinette stitch on 6 mm / US 10 needles = 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 in. Make sure to wash and block your swatch for the most accurate results. Please note that I have tighter-than-average row gauge, but this isn’t too important in this pattern. You may wish to go up or down a needle size, working in 0.25/0.5 mm increments as needed, to meet gauge.

Sizing and ease: The Feather Cardigan has a recommended positive ease of 25-30 cm / 6.25-9 in for Sizes A-H and 25-35 cm / 4.75-9.5 in for Sizes I-L around the chest (or the widest part of your torso). I have graded this pattern with fixed ease (meaning there is roughly the same amount of positive ease across the size range), but you may wish to size down if you would prefer a closer-fitting garment. If you are knitting one of the smaller sizes and would like the option of having less ease, please feel free to email me and I will make recommendations to suit your needs.

If you want a tighter fit, you should feel free to pick a size with less positive ease relative to your body using the measurements given below, and vice versa if you prefer a looser fit. If in doubt, I recommend measuring a garment you already own that is also oversized and using that as a guideline to help pick a size.

Size: A (B) C (D), E (F) G (H), I (J) K (L)

Chest measurement (cm): 75-80 (80-85) 85-90 (90-95), 95-100 (100-105) 105-110 (110-115), 115-125 (125-135) 135-145 (145-155)
Chest measurement (in): 29.5-31.5 (31.5-33.5) 33.5-35.5 (35.5-37.5), 37.5-39.25 (39.25-41.25) 41.25-43.25 (43.25-45.25), 45.25-49.25 (49.25-53.25) 53.25-57 (57-61)

Actual circumference of garment at chest (cm): 105.5 (110) 115.5 (120), 125.5 (130) 135.5 (140), 148.5 (160) 170 (180)
Actual circumference of garment at chest (in): 41.5 (43.25) 45.5 (47.25), 49.5 (51.25) 53.5 (55.25), 58.5 (63) 67 (70.75)

Actual circumference of garment at hips (cm): 95 (98.5) 104.5 (109.5), 115 (118.5) 124.5 (129.5), 138 (149.5) 158.5 (169.5)
Actual circumference of garment at hips (in): 37.5 (38.75) 41.25 (43), 45.25 (46.75) 49 (51), 54.25 (58.75) 62.5 (66.75)

Actual yoke depth at outer edges of the yoke (cm): 20 (20.5) 21 (22), 22.5 (23) 23.5 (24.5), 26 (28) 30 (32)
Actual yoke depth at the outer edges of the yoke (in): 7.75 (8) 8.25 (8.5), 9 (9.25) 9.25 (9.75), 10.25 (11) 11.75 (12.5)

Sleeve circumference at upper bicep (cm): 40.5 (42) 43.5 (45), 47 (48) 48.5 (50.5), 53,5 (58) 61 (65)
Sleeve circumference at upper bicep (in): 16 (16.5) 17 (17.75), 18.5 (18.75) 19 (20), 21 (22.75) 24 (25.5)

Please note that the sleeves have 14 cm / 5.5 in recommended positive ease at the upper bicep.

Recommended sleeve length (cm): 44 (43) 41.5 (40.5), 39 (37.5) 36.5 (35.5), 33.5 (30.5) 28 (25.5)
Recommended sleeve length (in): 17.25 (17) 16.25 (16), 15.25 (15) 14.25 (14), 13 (12) 11.25 (10)

Yarn: You have a couple of different options here. The sample Feather Cardigan was made with 3 strands of silk-mohair yarn held together. If you would also like to use 3 strands held together, you will need a total of approximately 1,710 (1,780) 2,010 (2,160), 2,260 (2,410) 2,490 (2,660), 2,830 (3,130) 3,310 (3,630) m / 1,870 (1,950) 2,200 (2,346), 2,470 (2,630) 2,720 (2,910), 3,090 (3,420) 3,620 (3,970) yds of yarn. I have tried to be generous with these estimates.

This sample garment was made with Knitting For Olive Soft Silk Mohair (70% mohair, 30% silk; 25 g = 225 m / 247 yds). If you also wanted to use this yarn, you would need a total of 8 (8) 9 (10), 10-11 (11) 11-12 (12), 13 (14) 15 (17) balls of Soft Silk Mohair.

For this sample, however, each strand of yarn I held together was a different colour (specifically, these were Ice Blue, Soft, Blue, and Cream), and so I purchased a total of 12 balls of yarn, 4 in each colour, to make sure I had enough yarn for my Size D sample.

Another option is to hold a bulky-weight single-ply yarn by itself. I would lean towards yarn with a large halo/lots of texture. For example, I am currently making a second sample using Sandnes Garn Børstet Alpakka (96% brushed alpaca, 4% nylon; 50 g = 110 m / 120 yds) in the shade 5043. The fabric isn’t quite as delicate as the three strands of silk-mohair, but this is a much more budget-friendly and really lovely option. If you would like to work with this kind of yarn, you will need a total of approximately 570 (600) 670 (720), 760 (800) 830 (890), 950 (1,050) 1,110 (1,210) m / 630 (650) 740 (790), 830 (880) 910 (970), 1,040 (1,150) 1,210 (1,330) yds.

This works out to be 6 (6) 6-7 (7), 7 (8) 8 (8-9), 9 (10) 10-11 (11-12) balls of Bøstet Alpakka.

Techniques include working flat and in the round, various leaning increases and decreases, a tubular cast-off, picking up stitches along horizontal and vertical edges, making button holes, German short rows, and an i-cord cast-off.