Lana Grossa Jacket Cardigan Knitting Pattern

Lana Grossa Jacket in Lala Berlin Lovely

What Is Being Made

This is a sophisticated knitted jacket designed by Lala Berlin, featured as Design 11 from Filati About Berlin 06. The jacket is a structured cardigan-style piece available in three sizes: 36/38, 40/42, and 44/46. It features a tailored silhouette with front lapels, a collar, set-in sleeves, and button closures, making it a versatile layering piece suitable for both casual and refined wardrobes.

Techniques Used

This jacket is constructed using the bottom-up method, meaning the body and sleeves are knitted from the cast-on edge upward. The pieces are worked flat on straight needles rather than in the round, allowing for easy shaping and seaming. The finished pieces are then seamed together using mattress stitch, a technique that creates nearly invisible vertical seams ideal for garments requiring a polished appearance. The jacket incorporates strategic increases and decreases to shape the front edges and create the lapel detail, with buttonholes worked into the right front band using a yarn-over and decrease technique.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette Stitch (St st): The primary stitch throughout the jacket body and sleeves, created by knitting on the right side and purling on the wrong side, producing a smooth, classic fabric with a V-shaped pattern.
• Reverse Stockinette Stitch (Rev St st): Used strategically on the front bands, collar, and as accents, this stitch reverses the appearance of stockinette to show the bumpy purl side on the right side of the fabric.
• Ribbed Pattern (K1, P1): Applied to the sleeve cuffs for approximately 5 centimeters, this elastic rib creates a fitted edge that hugs the wrist and prevents stretching.
• Selvage Stitches: Edge stitches worked at the beginning and end of rows to create neat, finished edges that are easier to seam.
• Yarn-Over and Decrease Combinations: Used to create three buttonholes evenly spaced along the right front band, allowing for secure button closure.

Materials and Specifications

The jacket requires 500 to 600 grams of yarn depending on size, specifically Lana Grossa Lala Berlin Lovely in the colorway Pink Mélange (col 1). This yarn is a premium blend containing 52% alpaca, 18% cashmere, 18% pure wool, and 12% polyamide, offering exceptional softness, warmth, and durability. The yarn yields 90 meters per 50-gram ball, making it a worsted-weight yarn suitable for structured garments.

Knitting needles required include size 5.5 mm needles for the ribbed cuffs and size 7 mm needles for the main body and sleeves, allowing for proper gauge and fabric drape. The jacket is finished with three 25-millimeter buttons, which serve as both functional closures and design elements along the front opening.

Construction Details

The jacket body is worked in pieces: a left front, right front, and back section, all constructed in stockinette stitch with shaped edges created through strategic increases and decreases. The left front includes shaping every fourth row repeated 13 times to create the jacket's contoured silhouette, while increased stitches are worked in reverse stockinette for visual definition. The right front mirrors the left front with shaping reversed and three buttonholes integrated into the design.

The sleeves are worked separately, beginning with a ribbed cuff of 5 centimeters worked on smaller needles to create elasticity. After the rib section, the needle size increases and the sleeve is shaped with increases at both ends: one increase every 7th row, then every 6th row, and finally every 4th row, creating a gradual cap that fits smoothly into the armhole. The collar is constructed by binding off stitches and casting on a new stitch at the inside edge, then continuing in reverse stockinette for approximately 10.5 centimeters before binding off.

Finishing involves blocking all pieces to precise measurements, sewing pocket linings in place, joining shoulder seams using mattress stitch, and attaching the buttons. This meticulous finishing process ensures a professional, tailored appearance befitting the luxury yarn and sophisticated design.