Koigu Cabled Hoodie Waistcoat Knitting Pattern

Koigu Cabled Hoodie

What is Being Made

The Koigu Cabled Hoodie is a knitted sweater featuring a front zipper closure and integrated hood. This garment is designed as a pullover-style sweater with cable detailing throughout, available in four finished bust sizes ranging from 35 inches to 54 inches. The total length of the finished sweater is approximately 25 inches, making it a versatile layering piece suitable for various body sizes and proportions.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several key knitting techniques to create its distinctive structure and appearance:

• Bottom-Up Construction: The sweater is knitted from the bottom edge upward, allowing knitters to try on the garment as it progresses and easily adjust length before binding off.
• Worked Flat: All pieces are worked on straight needles in flat rows rather than in the round, creating distinct front, back, and sleeve sections that are later seamed together.
• Seamed Assembly: Individual knitted pieces are sewn together using mattress stitch or similar seaming techniques to create the finished garment.
• Cable Patterning: The sweater features a two-color cable pattern that creates dimensional texture and visual interest across the body.
• Shaping: Strategic increases and decreases are worked to shape armholes and shoulders, creating a fitted silhouette that contours to the body.

Stitches Used

The Koigu Cabled Hoodie incorporates fundamental knitting stitches combined into more complex stitch patterns:

• Garter Stitch: Used as the foundation pattern for the lower body sections, created by knitting every row. This stitch provides a textured, reversible fabric with excellent drape and elasticity.
• Two-Color Cable Pattern: The primary decorative stitch pattern features cables worked over a multiple of 16 stitches plus 10 additional stitches. This pattern incorporates two yarn colors (designated as A and B in the pattern) to create intricate cable designs with chromatic contrast. Cables are formed by crossing groups of stitches over one another on the needle, creating twisted rope-like textures that add depth and visual complexity to the sweater.

Materials

The Koigu Cabled Hoodie is worked in premium yarn and requires specific tools to achieve the intended gauge and finished appearance:

• Yarn: Koigu KPPPM (a fingering-weight merino wool blend), with 6 to 14 hanks of color #1010 (A) depending on size, and 5 to 13 hanks of color #2135 (B). The yardage requirements scale with garment size to accommodate the larger finished measurements.
• Needles: US 2 (2.75mm) needles for the ribbed sections and initial setup, and US 3 (3.25mm) needles for the main cable pattern. Needle size should be adjusted as needed to obtain the specified gauge of 42 stitches and 32 rows equaling 4 inches in the two-color cable pattern when blocked.
• Notions: A 22-inch separating zipper is required for the front closure, allowing the hoodie to be opened and closed easily.

Additional Pattern Information

This pattern was originally published in Koigu Magazine (issues 7 and 9) and is designed by Melissa Leapman. The pattern provides detailed shaping instructions for multiple sizes, with specific stitch counts for armhole and shoulder shaping at each size. Knitters should block the finished sweater to the specified gauge to ensure proper fit and drape of the cable pattern.