“Matjes” (a traditional food from Northern Germany made of young herring) is a hybrid between an oversized, one-size-fits-all vest/ cape (or even a big shrug) and a cardigan with ½ sleeves. You can throw it over quickly on chilly mornings.

The design integrates a stitch pattern of diagonal lines running up and down into a construction which itself is rather simple: a kind of hourglass shape, to be joined at the sidelines (by working in the round), leaving out two armholes.

The cardigan comes in one size only because it is open with a loose fit which provides enough room for at least size XXL.
Worked at a gauge of 2 sts less/ more on 10cm,
the cardigan will get approx. 8-10% bigger/ smaller.

The “Hering” is a thicker version of the cardigan, re-calculated for a different gauge.

Needle size and gauge
“Matjes” version: Main needle size is 3,5 (or 3,75) mm; 3,0 (or 3,25) mm for edges.
4,0/ 3,5mm needle used for the “Hering” version. 20 (16) (better: 2x20/ 2x16) markers needed.
Gauge in diagonal lines pattern: 24 sts x 36 rows (“Matjes”)
or 19 sts x 30 rows (“Hering”).

Yarn
Approx. 1750m (Hering: 1350m) of a Fingering weight (Sport to Worsted weight) needed.

Sample yarns
For my “Matjes” sample, I have used Ruppert Garne Camellana (100% camel, 350m/ 50g) held together with Ruppert Garne Soft Lamb (100% lambswool, 425g/ 50g), which results in a combined yardage of approx. 190m/50g.
Find examples for color combinations in the images, and here you will find a lot more …
which you can purchase here.
By the way, there is currently a special discount of 10% on Ruppert Camellana if you buy 250g or more.

For the “Hering”, I have used a special tweedy version of Ruppert Garne Camellana plus Rennie Supersoft (100% wool, 280m/ 50g) – approx. 150m/ 50g for both together.

Errata (corrected in V 1.0.1):
Step 3 on page 6: 4th short row should be row D, not C
Short row C, part 1 (RS): Work lower back in pattern…
Short row D, part 1: Sl1wyf; from WS, work in pattern ..
Short row C, part 2: Still from WS, work (other half of) upper back …
Short row D, part 2: Sl1p…