Malabrigo Wisteria Cape Knitting Pattern

Malabrigo Wisteria Cascade Garter Capelet

What Is Being Made

The Malabrigo Wisteria is a flowing capelet designed by Angela Tong, featured in Malabrigo's Book 17: Ponchos & Familia collection of garments crafted from merino yarns. This capelet is a versatile layering piece sized for Small and Medium/Large, with a lower edge circumference of 42 to 45¾ inches and a finished length of 13 inches. The capelet offers a graceful, cascading silhouette suitable for various occasions and seasons.

Techniques Used

The Wisteria capelet employs multiple construction techniques to create its elegant drape and texture. The garment is worked flat for the initial foundation rows, then seamlessly joined and worked in the round to create a continuous, unified piece without seaming. The construction follows a bottom-up approach, beginning with a cast-on edge and building upward to the finished length. Lace elements are incorporated through eyelet details that add visual interest and lightness to the fabric. The combination of these techniques results in a garment that is both structurally sound and beautifully fluid.

Stitches Used

The pattern utilizes fundamental knitting stitches combined in strategic ways to achieve the capelet's distinctive appearance. The primary stitch pattern is the Cascade Garter pattern, which is worked over 12 rows and repeated three times during the flat construction phase. Following the garter foundation, the pattern transitions to an Eyelet Garter Ridge pattern, which alternates knit and purl rounds to create textured ridges while incorporating yarn overs and k2tog (knit two together) decreases to form eyelets. These eyelet decreases appear in multiple rounds throughout the in-the-round section, creating a lace-like quality. The pattern also employs SSP (slip, slip, purl) as a left-leaning decrease option. The combination of garter stitch ridges with strategic eyelet placements produces a fabric with both visual texture and elegant openwork.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

The Wisteria capelet is designed to be worked with Malabrigo Sock yarn, a superwash merino wool available in 3½ ounce hanks, each containing approximately 440 yards of yardage. The pattern calls for 2 hanks in colorway #120 Lotus, providing ample yardage for the complete garment. The yarn is held as 2 strands together throughout, creating a thicker working yarn that produces the specified gauge. Construction requires Size 9 (5.5mm) circular needles in two lengths: a 24-inch needle for the initial flat sections and a 32-inch needle for the in-the-round portions. Additional notions include stitch markers to denote pattern repeats and the transition point from flat to circular knitting. The pattern achieves a gauge of 15 stitches and 32 rows over 4 inches when worked in the eyelet garter ridge pattern using the specified needle size and doubled yarn.

Skill Level and Pattern Details

The Wisteria capelet is rated as Beginner to Easy with Intermediate options, making it accessible to knitters with basic skills while offering room for growth. The pattern begins with 173 or 188 stitches depending on size selection, worked flat for 8 rows before the Cascade Garter pattern begins. After completing the garter repeats, the piece transitions to circular knitting with strategic decreases that shape the capelet while maintaining its graceful proportions. The eyelet garter ridge pattern creates a rhythmic sequence of knit rounds, purl rounds, and decrease rounds that build visual interest across the fabric.