Lana Grossa Jacket Cardigan Knitting Pattern

Lana Grossa Jacket in Fantasia

What is Being Made

The Lana Grossa Jacket in Fantasia is a knitted cardigan jacket designed in three sizes: 36/38, 40/42, and 44/46. This is a structured, tailored piece that combines classic cardigan construction with elegant shaping, featuring raglan sleeves and a shaped neckline. The jacket is worked as separate front and back pieces that are seamed together, creating clean, professional finishing suitable for a refined wardrobe staple.

Knitting Techniques

Construction Method: The jacket is worked flat on straight needles using a bottom-up approach, meaning pieces are knitted from the cast-on edge upward. This method allows for straightforward row-by-row progression and makes it easier to try on and adjust fit as you work.

Seaming: All pieces are seamed together after completion, rather than being worked in the round. This seamed construction provides structure and definition to the garment, with selvage stitches maintained throughout to create neat, finished edges for joining.

Shaping Techniques: The jacket employs full-fashion decreases, a professional shaping method that creates decorative, slanted decrease lines that are visible on the finished garment. These decreases are strategically placed at the raglan armholes and neckline, creating a tailored silhouette. The decreases are worked on right-side rows for visual impact, with the pattern instructions specifying full-fashion decrease A and full-fashion decrease B for different sections of the garment.

Selvage Management: The pattern uses a two-stitch selvage on every row, which involves slipping stitches purlwise with the yarn held appropriately (wyib on right-side rows, wyif on wrong-side rows). This creates a chain-like edge that is both attractive and practical for seaming, as these finished edges provide a clear guideline for joining pieces together.

Stitches Used

Main Pattern Stitch: The jacket features a slip-stitch pattern worked over a multiple of 4 stitches plus 3, plus 2 selvage stitches. The pattern alternates between knit and slip-stitch rows, creating subtle texture and visual interest. On right-side rows, the pattern reads: selvage stitch, then repeat knit 3 stitches followed by slip 1 purlwise to the last 4 stitches, ending with knit 3 and selvage stitch. Wrong-side rows reverse this sequence with knit stitches and slipped stitches in complementary positions, creating a balanced, reversible-looking texture.

Decrease Stitches: Full-fashion decreases are the primary shaping element, creating angled decrease lines that slope gracefully toward the armholes and neckline. These decreases are worked at regular intervals—every row for initial raglan shaping, then transitioning to every alternate row and every following row as specified in the pattern—to create smooth, graduated armhole curves and a refined neckline.

Bind-Off: Stitches are bound off at strategic points to create the raglan armhole depth and to finish the neckband, which is worked for an additional 15 to 17 centimeters depending on size before final binding off.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

Yarn: The jacket is knitted in Lana Grossa Fantasia, a premium blended yarn containing 50% cotton, 24% viscose, 16% baby alpaca, and 10% extrafine Merino wool. This fiber composition creates a yarn with excellent drape, breathability, and softness—ideal for a refined jacket. The yarn is worked at 125 meters per 50 grams.

Yardage Requirements: Depending on size, the jacket requires 550 grams (size 36/38), 600 grams (size 40/42), or 650 grams (size 44/46) of yarn. The color specified in the pattern is Rosé (color 3).

Needles: Size 4 mm (US 6) needles are used throughout the project for all pieces. This needle size works with the Lana Grossa Fantasia yarn to create a fabric with good stitch definition that showcases both the slip-stitch pattern and the full-fashion decrease lines.

Garment Specifications

The jacket pieces are worked to a length of 30 centimeters from the cast-on before raglan shaping begins. The left and right fronts are worked identically with shaping reversed for symmetry. The neckband is continued for 15 to 17 centimeters after the raglan and neck shaping are