HELENE
MINIMALIST CARDIGAN BY SARI NORDLUND
The Helene cardigan started with my desire to knit a simple and lightweight cardigan for everyday use. I wanted something that would work with everything and in every occasion in my daily life. I was looking for patterns on Ravelry and found that even though it’s full of beautiful cardigans, there were none that were minimalistic enough for my liking. The cardigan was inspired by the painting Family heirloom by the Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck. The style of the painting is very modern and stylised with minimalistic detailing. The girl in the foreground is wearing a light grey top, which made me imagine what that top could have looked like in real life.

The Helene cardigan is knitted with Shibui knits Silk Cloud and Cima held together for an incredibly lightweight and soft yet warm fabric. The mohair content of the Silk Cloud gives the cardigan a beautiful halo. The cardigan is knitted flat in pieces and then seamed together. The shoulders are joined together with Kitchener stitch for a finished look. You can also work the body of the cardigan in one piece until armholes and the sleeves in the round, however the seams give the otherwise very relaxed fabric some structure.

Sizes:
XS (S, M, L, XL, 2XL)
Finished bust circumference: 95 (105, 115, 125, 135, 145)
Intended ease: 20 cm / 6 inches of positive ease
Length of body (hem to underarm): 38 cm / 15 inches (adjustable)
Armhole depth: 20 (21, 22, 23, 24, 25) cm / 8 (8 1/4, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10) inches
Sleeve length: 47 cm / 18.5 inches
Upper arm circumference: 34 (35.5, 37, 39.5, 41.5, 43.5) cm / 13.5 (14, 14.5, 15.5, 16 1/3, 17) inches

Needles:
4.0 mm / US 6 circular needles with a cable of at least 60 cm / 24 inches
4.5 mm / US 7 circular needles with a cable of at least 60 cm / 24 inches
Always use the needle size that gets you the right gauge!

Yarn:
4 (4, 4, 5, 5, 6) skeins of Shibui Knits Cima (70% Alpaca, 30% Merino, 300 m / 328 yards per 50g) or 890 (1000, 1100, 1250, 1375, 1525) m / 975 (1095, 1205, 1370, 1505, 1670) yards of lace weight yarn,
and 4 (4, 4, 5, 5, 6) skeins of Shibui Knits Silk Cloud (60% Mohair, 40% Silk, 302 m / 330 yards per 50g) or 890 (1000, 1100, 1250, 1375, 1525) m / 975 (1095, 1205, 1370, 1505, 1670) yards of lace weight yarn.
Both yarns are shown in colorway Ash.

Gauge:
21 sts x 27 rows = 10 cm on larger needles in Stockinette stitch, knitted flat, blocked.

Notions:
stitch markers
waste yarn
sewing needle
6 buttons