Valley Yarns Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan

What Is Being Made

The Valley Yarns Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan is an intermediate-level knitted cardigan featuring a sophisticated two-layer construction. This design creates visual depth and textural interest through the combination of a delicate lace under layer with a refined stockinette stitch over layer. The cardigan is worked in five finished sizes ranging from 33" to 46.5" in width, making it suitable for a range of body measurements. The layered construction technique allows the lace pattern to peek through strategically, creating an elegant "hanging garden" aesthetic that justifies the garment's evocative name.

Techniques Used

This cardigan employs several advanced knitting techniques that elevate it beyond a basic garment:

• Bottom-up construction: The cardigan is knitted from the lower edge upward, allowing for easy adjustments to length and a natural progression through the pattern.
• Worked flat: All pieces are knitted flat on straight needles rather than in the round, which is traditional for cardigan construction and allows for seaming.
• Lace patterning: The under layer incorporates a lace pattern worked over 12 rows in the body and approximately 4 rows in the sleeves, creating an openwork design that shows through the over layer.
• Layering and joining: The two layers are ingeniously joined together by knitting each stitch of the over layer together with a corresponding stitch from the under layer, creating a unified fabric while maintaining the visual separation of the two layers.
• Seamed construction: The finished pieces are seamed together, which provides structure and durability to the final garment.
• Decreasing techniques: Strategic decreases shape the armholes and create the fitted silhouette, using standard decreases such as ssk (slip, slip, knit) and k2tog (knit two together).
• Eyelet details: A yarn-over and knit-two-together repeat creates a decorative eyelet row that adds visual interest to the stockinette sections.

Stitches Used

The Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan utilizes a focused selection of fundamental and decorative stitches:

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The primary stitch for the over layer, creating a smooth, refined fabric with a characteristic V-pattern on the right side.
• Garter stitch: Used for the borders of the fronts and back, providing a stable, textured edge that frames the garment.
• Lace pattern: The under layer features a multi-row lace pattern (repeating over 12 rows in the body) that incorporates yarn overs and decreases to create openwork.
• Yarn over (yo): Creates the eyelet details and is essential to the lace pattern, adding decorative holes to the fabric.
• Knit two together (k2tog) and slip, slip, knit (ssk): These right-leaning and left-leaning decreases are used both for shaping and as integral components of the lace pattern.
• Slip one, knit two together, pass slipped stitch over (sl1-k2tog-psso): A double decrease that creates a centered decrease line, used for refined shaping.

Materials and Specifications

The Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan is designed to be worked in Valley Yarns Colrain Lace, a luxurious blend of 50% Merino wool and 50% Tencel. This fiber combination provides the perfect balance of warmth, drape, and breathability. The yarn is available in the color Greyed Teal, a sophisticated blue-green shade that evokes natural garden tones.

Yardage requirements: The pattern calls for 1 to 2 cones of Valley Yarns Colrain Lace, with a total of 1400 yards available per cone. Yardage needs vary by size, with smaller sizes requiring 1 cone and larger sizes requiring 2 cones.

Tools required: US size 5 needles (or the size needed to obtain the specified gauge) are used for the main knitting, along with a Size F crochet hook for finishing details.

Gauge: The pattern is worked to a gauge of 24 stitches and 33 rows over 4 inches in stockinette stitch. Achieving the correct gauge is essential for