Knitting Fever Bernadette Jacket Pattern

Knitting Fever Bernadette Jacket by Jane Yu

What is Being Made

The Bernadette Jacket is a classic cardigan-style knitwear design offered in five sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large, and XX-Large. This garment features a structured fit with finished bust measurements ranging from 40 inches (101.5cm) in the smallest size to 57 inches (144.5cm) in the largest size. The jacket length measures between 19½ and 22½ inches (50 to 57.5cm) depending on size, making it a versatile layering piece suitable for various body types and style preferences.

Construction Techniques

The Bernadette Jacket is constructed using a bottom-up method with seamedworked flat on needles rather than in the round, allowing for straightforward shaping and finishing. This approach involves knitting individual pieces—the back, two front panels, and two sleeves—separately before assembling them together. The bottom-up construction method means you begin at the lower edge of each piece and work upward toward the shoulders and neckline, providing clear visual progress as the garment takes shape.

Stitches and Shaping Details

The primary stitch used throughout the Bernadette Jacket is Stockinette stitch (St st), which creates a smooth, classic fabric with a flat knit side and a bumpy purl side. This fundamental stitch provides an excellent canvas for displaying yarn texture and color.

The garment incorporates several shaping techniques to create a well-fitted silhouette:

• Armhole shaping: Accomplished through strategic bind-offs at the beginning of rows, with additional decreases worked using the K2tog (knit two together) technique to create a tapered armhole opening
• Neck shaping: The neckline is refined through bind-offs and decreases worked on both sides simultaneously, creating a symmetrical front neck opening
• Sleeve cap shaping: The sleeve cap features multiple decrease sequences, including bind-offs at the cap beginning followed by graduated decreases on subsequent rows, creating a smooth cap that fits properly into the armhole
• Shoulder shaping: Structured shoulder seams are created through bind-offs worked from the wrong side, providing a clean finish and proper garment structure
• Sleeve increases: Sleeves are increased gradually along the sides at regular intervals (every 16th to 18th row depending on size) to create a comfortable upper arm measurement ranging from 14 to 17½ inches (35.5 to 44.5cm)

Materials and Tools

The Bernadette Jacket requires 7 to 11 skeins of KFI Collection Furreal yarn in shade 12 Canadian Lynx, with the exact yardage depending on which size you are knitting. Each skein weighs 100 grams, providing substantial yardage for this substantial garment. The yarn choice—Furreal—suggests a plush, textured fiber that will create a soft, luxurious finished jacket.

For needles, the pattern calls for US 10½/6.5mm circular needles measuring 47 inches (120cm) in length, or a size that allows you to achieve the specified gauge. The circular needle format accommodates the flat working method while providing adequate needle length for managing the garment pieces. Additionally, a US J-10/6mm crochet hook is required for the finishing details, specifically for working single crochet edging along the front edges and back neck, which adds a polished, professional appearance to the completed jacket.

Finishing and Assembly

The Bernadette Jacket is completed through several finishing steps. Shoulder seams are sewn together to join the front and back pieces. The sleeves are then set into the armholes using a seaming technique. The final detail involves using the crochet hook to work single crochet stitches evenly along both front edges and the back neck opening, creating a neat, finished edge that frames the garment. All yarn ends are woven in securely to complete the jacket.