Tahki Yarns Cooper Cardigan Knitting Pattern

Tahki Yarns Cooper Bell-Sleeve Cardigan

Project Overview

The Cooper Bell-Sleeve Cardigan is a women's knitted cardigan designed by Rosemary Drysdale, featuring elegant bell sleeves and a flattering silhouette. This downloadable knitting pattern is available in six sizes ranging from Small to 3X, with finished bust measurements from 40 inches to 58 inches and lengths from 27 to 30 inches. The cardigan is constructed using a bottom-up, seamed approach, making it an ideal project for knitters who prefer building garments from the foundation upward.

Construction Techniques

The Cooper Cardigan is worked flat on straight needles using a seamed construction method. This approach allows knitters to work individual pieces—front panels, back, and sleeves—separately before joining them together. The pattern incorporates strategic shaping techniques, including decreases at side edges to create a fitted waist and increases for the distinctive bell-sleeve design. The front band is created using a specialized grafting technique, which joins live stitches with wrong sides together to create a seamless, professional finish. This grafting method involves using a yarn needle to interlace stitches from two needles in a specific sequence, ensuring an invisible join.

Stitches and Stitch Details

The primary stitch used throughout the Cooper Cardigan is Stockinette stitch, which creates a smooth, classic fabric with a knit side and purl side. The pattern incorporates specialty techniques including yarn overs and wrapped stitches for textural interest. Row 2 of the pattern features a decorative wrapped stitch technique where yarn is wrapped around the needle twice, creating elongated stitches that are dropped in the following row for a unique textured effect. Decreases are worked at specific intervals—every 14 rows three times, then every 10 rows once—at the beginning of rows for side edge shaping. Increases are distributed evenly across rows to add stitches for the bell-sleeve expansion.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

The Cooper Cardigan is designed to be knitted with Tahki Yarns Montana Print, a 100% pure new wool yarn. The yardage requirements vary by size, ranging from 7 hanks for the Small size to 12 hanks for the 3X size. Each hank contains 3.5 ounces of yarn and provides 130 yards of yardage, allowing for approximately 910 to 1,560 total yards depending on the finished size. Montana Print is a printed wool yarn that adds visual interest to the finished garment.

Needles and Gauge

The Cooper Cardigan pattern utilizes multiple needle sizes to create varying fabric densities and textures. A unique aspect of this pattern is the use of doubled yarn held together with smaller needles for the initial cast-on and special technique rows. The pattern calls for size 13 (9mm) needles held together with a second strand of yarn for the cast-on and decorative rows, then transitions to size 13 needles alone with a single strand of yarn for the main body. Additional needle sizes—15 (10mm), 17 (12.75mm), and 19 (15mm)—are specified for different sections of the pattern to achieve proper gauge and fabric characteristics. The target gauge is 10 stitches and 14 rows over 4 inches in Stockinette stitch when worked with size 19 needles and doubled yarn. Achieving proper gauge is essential before beginning the project to ensure the finished cardigan matches the intended measurements.

Additional Supplies

Beyond yarn and needles, the pattern requires stitch holders for temporarily securing active stitches, stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats and shaping points, and a yarn needle for seaming pieces together and executing the grafting technique used for the front band closure.