I needed to knit a cardigan I knew would work, that wouldn’t need me to tweak, re-knit or fix things, and I’m presently in love with texture. So this pattern seemed just the thing; it’s been with me for years, waiting to be used.

I was in knitting bliss, enjoying the softness of the yarn, the pretty colour, and the lovely texture. Then I got to the Shape Armhole section for the back. Sirdar has done a very bad job here, and I’ve noticed a couple of other of their patterns where they are poor at shaping and lace… they just don’t allow the pattern stitch to take shape so we CAN read our knitting!

So we’re told, after just 2 rows in “pattern 3” (with decreases on each end of each row) - “Keeping continuity of patt. as set throughout, work 3 rows decreasing…. etc”. But after just two rows you can’t even see the pattern, you can’t start reading your work until a few rows are done! The pattern isn’t yet set!

Here’s the Seeded Rib Stitch, which is what pattern 3 here is.

I started looking at other knitters’ notes and realised that many have been puzzled over this, but there wasn’t any clear help there, other than the recommendation to knit a swatch with no shaping, to understand how the pattern stitch is formed. I wasn’t keen to knit a swatch… boring… but finally I did, just a small one, and it did help.

For the swatch, cast on a multiple of 4sts PLUS 3. I cast on 27.
Row 1: Knit 3, * purl 1, k3; rep from * to the end of row
Row 2: Knit 1, * p1, k3; repeat from * to last 2 stitches, p1, k1
The broken rib used actually uses k3, p1 (or can view it as p1, k3) on both the RS and the WS, but those knits and purls fall in different places on each side, giving you a nice texture. If ever you find yourself doing p3’s, you’re off track. You’ll only ever be doing p1’s, along with k3’s.

Repeat these 2 rows - repeat them several times and you’ll see the pattern take shape.
You’ll notice that on each side of your knitting there’s a column of knit stitches. I found it helpful at first to put a marker right beside the first and last knit stitches on my RS row.
RS: On each side of that knit column you do a knit, and you also knit the stitch at top of that column. Having the marker initially reminded me that there would be a k3 with the knit st. sitting above the column being the centre of the 3 knits. So, k3, p1, repeated, with a few stragglers at each end that need to be worked in pattern (the initial few decrease rows need to be also worked to maintain the pattern at the ends of the rows).
WS: Exactly the same, using k3, p1 repeated, and once again each set of 3 knits span across the knit column that’s on the WS, but they don’t match the knits and purls that you did on the RS as they’ll fall in different places from the RS’s. When you’re on the WS, as a double check after a few stitches, flip your work to the RS and check that when you work a p1 on the WS it actually helps form the KNIT column on the RS. That was valuable at first to keep me on track.

I kept my swatch beside me at first when I started the pattern stitch 3 in my actual garment. For the first maybe 4 rows it was slow but after that my knitting showed me what to do; the pattern stitch had become clear.

In case anyone knitting the 0-6m size is floundering, here’s how to work the two rows for pattern 3, once the decreases are done and you are left with 39sts (for the upper back):
RS: k1, p1, (k3, p1), repeat to last 5sts, k3, p1, k1.
WS: (k3, p1), repeat to last 3sts, k3.

Note about shape armhole:
It wasn’t initially how to do this broken rib stitch that had me most puzzled, it was what was going on with the decreases. I’m used to seeing decreases of k2tog, or ssk, or slip 1, k1, psso, etc. If the pattern had made a note of what the aim was for the increases it would have been really helpful. As it was I couldn’t understand why some sizes want us to k2tog, other sizes want p2tog. Finally, studying my swatch, I realised that the aim was to decrease within the pattern stitch, so that the decreases blended into the patterning. Looking at the first and last few stitches in the swatch helped with this.

MODS:

• Added just a cm to the length.
• Not exactly a mod, but a note: I found it neater to end pattern stitch 2, which came immediately before the armhole shaping, with a row 4. The placement of the little blips in pattern stitch 2 seemed to merge better with pattern stitch 3.

NOTE:
Shape armhole section: You’ve just worked 1st and 2nd row with the initial decreases. It then says “Keeping continuity of pattern as set throughout, work 3 / 5 rows decreasing…”. It should say to work 3 MORE rows. That has always been the standard way in Sirdar patterns so this is out of character. You will be working, in the case of the two smaller sizes, 5 decrease rows altogether, and 7 decrease rows for the other sizes.

I used the grey yarn just for the cast on and cast offs to pick up the tiny grey flecks in the pink yarn. I hope to reflect the grey in the buttons I use. My Straw. Mousse came unbanded from a long ago mill pack and the colour isn’t quite standard. Most versions from back then seem to have at least a blue speck in the pink. Mine is more grey and the pink is very delicate. Present day the “Strawberry Mousse” colour is one of the “Spots” colourways, and it’s different… too spotty for me.

I only gave this pattern a clarity rating of 2 stars because of the poorly written instructions for pattern stitch 3 and shaping. I love the style and the texture, but I rate a pattern on clarity, wording, setting out, not on whether I love the resulting garment.

I really like the cardigan this pattern makes. The textured pattern stitches make it feel cushy, and the softness of the yarn I used make it even moreso.

The last two photos are the seeded rib stitch (pattern stitch 3 in the pattern), the grey one being my swatch to work out the pattern and decreases.