Olearia is a native Australian daisy bush. They are one of the many wonderful wildflowers that are indigenous to our area. This little pattern features three interlinked designs or three petals; two variations of a cardigan and a shrug. All are seamless, knit top-down and deceptively simple to knit.
Olearia is part of my Australian Wildflower collection, a group of patterns named for some of the beautiful flora found here; all linked by the gathering.

Construction:
This is a seamless garment constructed from the top down.

Shrug: features all over gathering with short sleeves.

Cardigan Version 1: features all over gathering with gathered elbow length sleeves.

Cardigan Version 2 features a gathered bodice, a stocking stitch body and long sleeves with two different cuff options; gathered or garter.

The option of cap sleeves is also included. This is suitable for all garments.

Sizing:
9 sizes covering the chest measurements of 19 to 27 inches/48 to 68.5 cm.
Size range fits approximately size 1 to 8.

Finished chest measurement:
19/48 - 12mths (20/51 - 18mths, 21/53.5 - 24mths, 22/56 - 3yrs, 23/58.5 - 4yrs) 24/61 - 5yrs, 25/63.5 - 6yrs, 26/66 - 7yrs, 27/68.5 - 8yrs inches/cm.

This garment is designed to be close fitting with neutral ease. The ease of the garment is incorporated into the sizing already.

Skill Level:
Intermediate

Techniques used:
Knit and purl
Increasing and decreasing
Working small circumferences in the round
Picking up stitches

Yarn Requirements:
• Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply (100% wool; 437yd400m/200g) - Shrug: 1 (1, 1, 1, 1) 1, 1, 1, 2 balls,
Cardigan Version 1: 2 balls, Cardigan Version 3: 2 balls.

• OR WOOLganics Organic Merino 8ply (100% merino; 113yd 103m/50g) - Shrug: 3 (3, 3, 3, 4) 4, 4, 4, 5 balls,
Cardigan Version 1: 5 (5, 6, 6, 6) 7, 7, 7, 7 balls,
Cardigan Version 2: 4 (4, 5, 5, 5) 6, 6, 6, 6 balls.

• OR 8ply/DK weight yarn of approximately:
Shrug: 250/230 (270/250, 300/275, 320/295, 340/310) 360/330, 380/350, 410/365, 460/420 yards/metres.
Cardigan Version 1: 520/475 (550/505, 580/530, 610/560, 640/585) 680/620, 710/650, 740/680, 770/705 yards/metres.
Cardigan Version 2: 430/395 (450/415, 480/440, 510/470, 530/485) 580/530, 610/560, 640/585, 670/615
yards/metres.

Sample garments shown in Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury (pale pink), Patons Merino Deluxe DK - discontinued (pink), WOOLganics Organic Merino 8ply (dark pink) and Bella Baby Layette (blue).

Tension:
22 stitches and 30 rows/rounds = 4 inches in stocking stitch.
It is advisable to swatch both flat and in the round and adjust your needles accordingly to ensure you maintain a consistent tension throughout this project.

Needles and Notions:
• US6/4mm: 32”/80cm and 12”/30cm circular* (or size required for tension)
• US5/3.75mm: 32”/80cm circular* (or one needle size smaller than size required for tension) — Size 24-27 only
• US3/3.25mm: 32”/80cm and 12”/30cm circular (or two sizes smaller than required for tension)
* or your preferred method for small circumference knitting
• 4 stitch markers
• 2 pieces of waste yarn
• 3 to 13 ½”/12mm buttons
• darning needle

As part of the bigger picture, Olearia is part of my Australian Wildflowers Collection, which also features Caesia and the Spring Wildflowers e-book.