This delicate lace crossover cardigan was inspired by my niece, who was around six years old when she asked for something special to wear to her ballet lessons.

As with all my patterns, I’ve designed this one to allow for different knitting tensions – especially stitch tension, which is always the most important. However, for this particular pattern, row tension matters too. If you don’t achieve the suggested 30 rows per 10cm, the decrease shaping might not sit quite right. If that’s the case, I recommend knitting the fronts first and then matching the back to their length for a better fit.

One quick note on the neck edging: yes, the instructions really do ask you to cast on, pick up stitches and then cast off straight away! It’s not a typo – it’s just that simple.

CONSTRUCTION
The back, left and right front, and two sleeves are knitted flat from the bottom up in separate pieces and joined together. The sleeves are drop.

TECHNIQUES USED
Cast on, knit, purl, increasing on sleeves, decreasing at neck edge, Joining seams. Optional but recommended to create a joy of joining your pieces: mattress stitch seaming and three needle cast off.

YARN
1(2:2:2:3) 100g hanks of WYS Bluefaced Leicester DK.
100% British Bluefaced Leicester wool, 225m/246yds per 100g

SUGGESTED KNITTING NEEDLES
One 3.75mm long (at least 60cm) circular needle.
4mm knitting needles.

GAUGE (tension)
22 stitches and 30 rows to 10cm/4ins square over stocking stitch. I obtained this gauge with 4mm needles.
It is important to obtain the correct gauge so do work a swatch before you start the pattern and change your needle size to achieve the correct gauge if you need to.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

To Fit (suggested):
0-1, (1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8)years

Chest Circumference
46, (52, 59, 65, 71)cm
18, (20½, 23¼, 25½, 27¾)ins

Length (from top of shoulder to cast on edge)
17, (18, 21, 24, 26)cm
6¾, (7, 8¼, 9½, 10¼)ins

Sleeve Length (from underarm to cast on edge)
17, (20, 24, 28, 34)cm
6¾, (7¾, 9½, 11, 13¼)ins

NEED HELP?
I am here for you! Pop into the Skipton studio, send an email, or check out the Purl &Jane YouTube channel for tips, inspiration and guidance including handy resources like gauge (tension) guides and how to tutorials.