Inspired by the complex tweed and woven fabrics of Chanel’s iconic jackets, Kantha Cardigan is at once edgy, trendy, & classic with clean lines and flattering, structured, Mandarin-inspired collar. The contrast of bright, variegated yarns against creamy white wool fashions a sophisticated and nuanced fabric—like tiny colorful brushstrokes marking white canvas. The easy slip stitch pattern (fingering weight contrast yarn slipped over alternating stitches of stockinette rows) creates broken lines of bright color— the illusion of a woven or elaborately hand embroidered fabric. The slip stitch pattern is named for Kantha, a type of hand embroidery from India. Kantha Cardigan is a seamless, top-down pattern featuring innovative techniques for structuring and finishing the collar.

No sewing involved! The slip stitch pattern is simple and memorizable and creates the illusion without the fuss. The cardigan is worked seamlessly from the top down. The button band is picked up from the body and worked after the body and sleeves are completed. The flattering and structured collar is picked up and worked last and folded over and joined to the body with a seamless bind off technique. The shoulders are shaped using the contiguous set-in-sleeve method originally developed by Susie Myers (SusieM on Ravelry). To create the sleek silhouette, this design includes additional shaping around the curve of the shoulder, as well as waist and hip shaping.

Please spend some time looking over the schematic to help you choose your size and decide on any modifications to the waist or hip shaping. Due to the slip stitch pattern, the fabric of the cardigan will have more structure, density and less stretch than an unadorned stockinette fabric.

The fabric and stitch pattern of Kantha Cardigan was originally inspired by a white Chanel coat woven with neon threads from the Winter 2015 collection. One or two contrast colors may be used. If two colors are used, they may be alternated according to the knitter’s preference, but it is recommended to alternate them consistently throughout the garment. The sample garment shows the second color worked about twice as frequently as the first.

SIZES
XS (S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL):
FINISHED BUST CIRCUMFERENCE—33 (35 1/2, 38 1/2, 42 1/2, 44 1/2, 49, 52)” / 83.5 ( 90, 98, 109, 113, 124, 132.5) cm
Shown in size XS on a 32” bust with 1” ease at full bust. Choose a size with 1 -3” larger than full bust.

GAUGE
19 sts and 22 rows = 4”/ 10cm in stockinette, and in patterns on larger needles AFTER BLOCKING. To insure proper fit, please take time to check gauge in stockinette and in patterns.

YARN
MAIN COLOR:
worsted weight yarn that can be knit in stockinette and stitch patterns (seed stitch and woven stockinette) at pattern gauge
Rain City Knits Worsted (natural)(100% merino wool, 220 yds / 201 m per 100g skein) — 5 (5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8) skeins or actual: 889 (1018, 1159, 1277, 1409, 1521, 1708) yds / 813 (931, 1060, 1168, 1288, 1392, 1562) m
CONTRAST COLOR:
With 1 or 2 variegated fingering weight yarns, such as
Rain City Knits Sock (463 yards /per 100g skein)
“Glow Stick Party” 1 skein or 71 (82, 93, 102, 113, 122, 137) yds / 65 ( 75, 86, 94, 103, 112, 125) m
“Kaleidoscope” 1 skein or 167 (191, 217, 239, 264, 285, 320) yds / 152 (176, 199, 218, 241, 260, 293) m
single contrast color: 239 (273, 310, 342, 377, 407, 457) yards / 217 (249, 284, 312, 345, 372, 418) m

NEEDLES & NOTIONS
US 7 / 4.5mm circular knitting needle in 32”/ 80 cm length, or preferred length for knitting sweater body*
US 7 / 4.5mm needles in preferred style for knitting sleeves in the round*
US 5 / 3.75mm circular needles in 32” / 80 cm length or preferred length for knitting sweater hem, collar, and button bands
US 5 / 3.75mm needles in preferred style for knitting sleeve hem in the round
tapestry needle
6 stitch markers, 2 additional markers in contrasting color (B)
9 (9, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10) 5/8” buttons
or size to obtain gauge

SKILLS
knitting and purling
knitting sleeves in the round
familiarity with top-down sweaters
slipping stitches
picking up stitches
increasing and decreasing