Plymouth Yarn Women's Striped Tunic Cardigan Knitting

Plymouth Yarn Women's Striped Tunic Cardigan

Garment Overview

This women's striped tunic cardigan is a sophisticated layering piece designed to fit bust sizes from 32" to 42", with finished measurements ranging from 37" to 47" to allow for comfortable wearing ease. The tunic length extends to approximately 27½" to 30" depending on size, making it an elegant option for pairing with fitted pants or skirts. The cardigan features a classic button front closure with seven buttons and is available in six size options to accommodate various body types.

Construction Method

This cardigan is constructed using a bottom-up, seamed approach, meaning the knitter begins at the lower edge and works upward toward the shoulders. The pattern is worked flat on straight needles rather than in the round, allowing for traditional seaming of the side and sleeve seams once individual pieces are completed. This construction method provides excellent stitch definition and control over shaping, particularly important for achieving the precise stripe alignment throughout the garment.

Stripe Pattern and Design

The cardigan features a striking striped colorwork design worked in two complementary colors from the Baby Alpaca Worsted yarn line. The stripe sequence repeats every 48 rows: rows 1–24 are worked in reverse stockinette stitch using the contrast color (CC – 100 Natural), while rows 25–48 are worked in reverse stockinette stitch using the main color (MC – 104 Charcoal Heather). This creates bold, horizontal stripes that run continuously across the back, fronts, and sleeves. The reverse stockinette stitch base provides a subtle texture that enhances the visual impact of the color changes.

Knitting Techniques

The pattern employs several essential knitting techniques:

• Ribbing: The lower edge begins with 1×1 rib worked on smaller needles (US 6) for 4", creating an elastic, fitted waistband that helps the garment maintain its shape. Stitches are increased evenly across the final ribbing row to transition smoothly to the larger gauge of the body.
• Stockinette and Reverse Stockinette: The main body is worked in reverse stockinette stitch, which displays the purl bumps on the right side, creating visual texture that complements the striped colorwork.
• Armhole Shaping: Bind-offs at the beginning of rows create the armhole depth, followed by decreases worked every other row on each side to shape the armhole opening smoothly.
• Shoulder Shaping: The shoulders are shaped through a series of bind-offs at the beginning of rows, creating a structured shoulder line.
• Neck Shaping: The front neck opening is created by binding off the center stitches and working each shoulder separately, with decreases at the neck edge to create a gradual, flattering neckline.
• Seaming: Once all pieces are knitted, they are seamed together using mattress stitch or similar techniques to create invisible, professional-looking seams.

Stitches Used

The primary stitches used throughout this pattern are:

• Knit (k): The fundamental stitch that forms the basis of all knitted fabric.
• Purl (p): Used to create ribbing at the waistband and to form the reverse stockinette texture of the main body.
• Knit Two Together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used to shape the armholes and neckline.
• Reverse Stockinette Stitch: The primary stitch pattern for the body, created by purling on right-side rows and knitting on wrong-side rows.
• 1×1 Ribbing: Alternating knit and purl stitches that create the elastic waistband.

Materials and Yarn

This pattern is designed to be worked in Baby Alpaca Worsted, a luxurious yarn from Plymouth Yarn. The yardage requirements vary by size: the smallest size (32") requires 3 skeins of the Contrast Color (100 Natural) and 2 skeins of the Main Color (104 Charcoal Heather), while the largest size (42") requires 4 skeins of the Contrast Color and 3 skeins of the Main Color. Each skein weighs 100 grams. Baby Alpaca Worsted is a medium-