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Padstow is the low yardage cardigan of your dreams. Choose any body and sleeve size pairing, and the pattern will tell you which yoke to make and how to split for your perfect body and sleeve combo.

Inspired by the seaside town in Cornwall, Padstow’s lace reminds me of the fish that were on the cover of a recipe book included with a weekend’s seafood cookery course I took there many years ago.

Yarn Choices

I knit Padstow with fingering weight merino wool and laceweight mohair held together. If you’d rather knit with a single strand, I recommend choosing something in the heavy DK / worsted range, and swatching thoroughly to make sure you like the fabric and can achieve the correct gauge.

If knitting with two strands, you will need the listed length of EACH yarn.

If knitting with one, you will need the listed length of yarn.

For example, I used 1019 yards (932 metres) of Standard Sock AND the same length of Suri Silk. If I had chosen to use a single strand of yarn, I would have needed 1019 yards (932 metres).

Materials

• approx. 475 yards (434 metres) to 1258+ yards (1242+) metres fingering weight yarn, AND
• the same length of laceweight fluff (e.g. mohair, suri)
• 6mm needles (or size needed for gauge) suitable for working flat and in the round
• 5.5mm needles (or size 0.5mm smaller than above) suitable for working flat and in the round
• 2 stitch markers, which you can tell apart, for noting the beginning of the round and short row placement
• tapestry needle, to sew in ends
• 2x spare yarn, cable, stitch holder, or other tool for putting stitches on hold
• your preferred blocking equipment
• a length of scrap yarn longer than your size’s neckline circumference, plus any other tools required for your preferred provisional cast on
• 7 buttons, approximately 2” / 5cm diameter

Yarn Requirements

Your yarn requirement depends on your chosen body and sleeve sizes. As such it is presented in a table. Please download the free preview document for more information; it should be everything you need to work out which sizes will work for you, how much yarn you’ll need, and which needles to use. There’s even a swatch pattern!

You can download the preview document here:

Preview Document

Instructions are included to adjust the length of the body, the sleeves, or both. The pattern and preview document both tell you how this will affect your yarn requirement.

There is also a guide to adjusting the neckline to make it more snug. As this adjustment is based on your preferences, it is not possible to give exact instructions, or an exact yardage. If you think you will want to do this, please allow additional yarn.

Sizing

Padstow is #SizeInclusive and #ShapeInclusive.

Padstow comes in 10 body sizes and 10 sleeve sizes. You can mix and match any body size with any sleeve size for a custom fit.

Padstow is designed as a slightly cropped jumper, with short row shaping to make the back 2” / 5cm longer than the front. The pattern includes instructions to adjust the body length to make it as short or as long as you’d like. You can also omit the short rows and adjust the sleeve length.

Padstow uses mix and match body and sleeve sizing. As it’s a circular yoke construction method, this means that the combination of your body and sleeve sizes dictates your yoke size.

Body Sizing

Body sizes are numbered 1-10. You should choose the best body size for you based on your full chest measurement and desired ease.

Measurements are given as follows:
1 (2, 3, 4) [5, 6, 7] (8, 9, 10).

Recommended body ease is 2-8” / 5-20cm. The sample is shown with 3” / 7.5cm ease.

All measurements refer to the garment.

B: Chest Circumference
30 (35, 40, 45) 50, 55, 600, 75)“
75 (87.5, 100, 112.5) 125, 137.5, 15075, 187.5)cm

C: Body Width (flat)
15 (17.5, 20, 22.5) 25, 27.5, 305, 37.5)“
37.5 (44, 50, 56.5) 62.5, 69, 757.5, 94)cm

Sleeve Sizing

Sleeve sizes are lettered A-J. You should choose the best sleeve size for you based on your bicep measurement and desired ease.

Measurements are given as follows: A (B, C, D) E, F, G, J).

Recommended sleeve ease is around 2-6” / 5-15cm. The sample is shown with 3” / 7.5cm ease.

All measurements refer to the garment.

G: Sleeve Circumference
10 (12.5, 15, 17.5) 20, 22.5, 250, 32.5)“
25 (31.5, 37.5, 44) 50, 56.5, 62.55, 82.5)cm

H: Cuff Circumference
5.00 (6.25, 7.50, 8.75) 10.00, 11.25, 12.505.00, 16.25)“
12.5 (15.5, 19.0, 22.0) 25.0, 28.0, 31.57.5, 40.5)cm

I: Sleeve Length (from underarm)
15” / 37.5cm

Sleeve length is easily customisable, full instructions are included.

Guidance is also given for adjusting the cuff size.

Yoke Sizing

Yoke sizes are prefixed with a Y and numbered, i.e. Y1-Y15. You will be told your yoke size based on your Combined Size - you do not need to measure for this.

(Y1, Y2, Y3) Y4, Y5, Y68, Y9) Y10, Y11, 1214, Y15)

A: Yoke Circumference (at bottom of lace)

(40, 45, 50) 55, 60, 655, 80) 85, 90, 9505, 110)“
(100, 112.5, 125) 137.5, 150, 162.587.5, 200) 212.5, 225, 237.562.5, 275)cm

D: Neck Circumference

(21.25, 21.25, 21.75) 21.75, 22.25, 22.252.75, 24.50) 26.25, 27.50, 29.252.00, 33.75)“
(53.0, 53.0, 54.5) 54.5, 55.5, 55.57.0, 61.5) 65.5, 69.0, 73.00.0, 84.5)cm

E: Yoke Depth (flat)
(10, 10, 10) 11, 11, 111, 11) 12.25, 12.25, 12.252.50, 12.50)“
(25.0, 25.0, 25.0) 27.5, 27.5, 27.57.5, 27.5) 30.5, 30.5, 30.51.5, 31.5)cm

F: Total Length (at front - back is 2” / 5cm longer, unless short rows are omitted)
(18 18, 18) 19, 19, 199, 19) 20.25, 20.25, 20.250.5, 20.5)“
(45, 45, 45) 47.5, 47.5, 47.57.5, 47.5) 50.5, 50.5, 50.51.5, 51.5)cm

Total length is easily customisable, full instructions are included.

Construction

Padstow is a circular yoke garment worked top down. The yoke is knit first, then stitches are put on hold for the sleeves and the body is worked, including the neckline. Finally, each set of stitch sleeves are returned to the needles and knit.

You can watch a video explaining this construction method here:

Construction Video

Stitches

knit
purl
central double decrease
knit 2 together
left lifted increase
right lifted increase
slip slip knit
yarn over

Other Techniques

knitting in the round
lace (confident beginner)
casting on (your preferred provisional method)
casting on (backwards loop)
binding off (standard)
binding off (JSSBO)
picking up stitches
short rows (any method)
yarn held double (optional)

Sample Details

Sample A - Green
Yarn: The Camel’s Yarn Standard Sock, Suri Silk (held double)
Size: 6G
Yardage: 1019y / 932m, in each yarn
Model: Victoria
Chest Ease: 3” / 7.5cm
Bicep Ease: 3” / 7.5cm

You can view more details of the samples and fit models used for Padstow in the Sample and Fit Model Galleries. You can also refer to Belfort, which is the pullover version.

Sample Gallery

Fit Models

Accessibility

Padstow includes two versions of the pattern: the main version, and a second version designed for low vision and screen reader users.

Both versions of the pattern are colour blind friendly.

The accessible version of the pattern has:

• 24 point sans-serif font (Arial) throughout
• Fully saturated black text on white background
• Single column layout
• Left-aligned text
• No italics
• No header or footer – just page numbers (bottom left)
• Consistent use of heading tags for easy navigation
• Internal links to aid navigation
• All instructions written out in text without reliance on diagrams or charts
• All words written out in full (i.e. no abbreviations)
• No bulleted lists
• No tables
• Tested with screen readers

You can read full details here: Accessible Patterns