A basic cardigan with a minimalist soul: easy to knit, perfect for beginners yet a great way to practice new techniques.
Feminine but casual, it’s a versatile piece you can wear buttoned up like a jacket or open for a more relaxed look.
With its simple lines, it’s the perfect blank canvas to customize and make your own. Whether with buttons, a belt, or left open, the result will always be effortlessly stylish.

Our Basic Cardigan is knit top-down in one piece.
Starting at the neckline, after working a few rows of garter stitch, markers are placed and increases are made using simple yarn overs along the raglan lines until the desired width is reached.
At this stage, the work is worked flat, knitting every row.
Next, the stitches are divided: sleeve stitches are placed on hold, and the body is worked flat to the desired length.
Finally, the sleeve stitches are placed on circular needles and worked in the round without decreases from the underarm to the wrist. In this section, garter stitch is created by knitting one round and purling the next.

Level: Advanced Beginner

Language: English, French and Italian (3 pdf)

Sizes:
(s) m (l) xl (2xl)
Our sample is in size m.

Measurements:
Finished chest: (90.4) 97.4 (104.3) 111.3) 118.3 cm (35.6) 38.3 (41.1) 43.8 (46.6) in.
Finished length: (47.4) 50.7 (53.6) 56.4 (58.8) cm / (18.7) 20.0 (21.1) 22.2 (23.1) in.
Note: choose a finished size that provides 5–8 cm (2–3.5 in) of positive ease.

Yarn requirements:
Approx (887) 1008 (1129) 1256 (1381) mt / (921) 1030 (1127) 1204) 1297 yds of DK weight yarn.
Approx (396) 450 (505) 561 (617) gr of Sesia Mistral - 50 g/175 mt (192 yd).

Needles:

• Straight or circular needles 3.25 mm (US 3 – UK 10) for the first rows of the neckline.
• Straight or circular needles 4.0 mm (US 6 – UK 8) for the body.
• Circular needles 4.0 mm / 40 cm (US 6 – UK 8) for the sleeves – short-tipped needles are recommended. For size S, it will be necessary to use double-pointed needles or the magic loop method.

Other notions:
Tapestry needle, 4 stitch markers, scrap yarn or stitch holders, measuring tape, (6) 7 (7) 7 (8) buttons with maximum diameter 2 cm.

Gauge:
23 sts and 42 rows to 4”/10 cm on 4 mm (US 6, UK 8) needles in garter stitch.

It’s always important to knit a small gauge swatch with your chosen yarn. Make sure your stitch and row counts match the gauge listed in the pattern. If they don’t, try adjusting your tension or changing your needle size.

Skills needed:
Casting on
Knitting
Purling
Raglan increases: yo
Buttonholes: k2tog, yo
Adding underarm stitches
Picking up Stitches
Tranferring stitches to stitch holder
Binding off

If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to contact me — I’ll be happy to help.

Thanks for your visiting!

Veronica

Pattern and the items made from it are for your personal non-commercial use. You may not distribute or sell electronic or paper copies of this pattern in part or whole without written consent.