Kelly Cardigan

Original Kelly Cardigan

If I had a favorite knitted garment, it must be the Kelly Cardigan, designed by Erica Knight, because I have knit this pattern 3 times. I first made it about 5 years ago. It took over one year to knit and my gauge was inconsistent so the fronts and back were gigantic and all different sizes. It sat in my UFO (unfinished objects) box for years until I rediscovered it. Since I am a seamstress first and a knitter second, I decided to trim the pieces so they approximated the correct dimensions and then I serged the seams together on my serger. I knit a new ribbed band at the hem by picking up stitches along the bottom. After trying it on, the mohair shed all over my blouse underneath so I made a silk charmeuse lining and quilted it to the outer sweater pieces and hand stitched it in place.

Fast forward a few years and I saw a bright pink version and decided I needed one. This time I tried knitting the entire sweater bottom up to avoid the seaming at the end.  I picked up stitches for the sleeves, which I knit 2 at a time in the round using the magic loop method. This version was a little too snug in the shoulder and armscye to be worn over anything bulkier than a tank top. This version, like my previous one, is also lined in matching stretch silk charmeuse.

Front, snapped closed.

Front, unbuttoned

Back

Inside-out view 

View of quilted lining and snaps, applied over grosgrain ribbon facing

Closeup of hand stitched shoulder seam

The third version I made after seeing this version, knitted in Schulana Kid Paillettes.  After my fitting problems with my previous bottom-up version,  I went back to the original pattern and knit the pieces  separately before seaming them together at the end. Prior to seaming, I used the pieces as a pattern to cut the lining, again from stretch silk charmeuse. The lining is hand quilted and sewn into the sweater using couture sewing techniques. I used a herringbone stretch stitch to attach the lining to the ribbed parts of the sweater. I knit this version with a single strand of yarn instead of using 2 strands held together to save money on yarn!

Front view, snapped closed;

Side view

Back view

Inside out view of finished sweater.

Snaps attached to grosgrain ribbon facing,  close-up of quilted lining.

Herringbone stitch used to attach lining to ribbing at bottom.

View of lining attached to sleeve hem.

The fit of this sweater is perfect. It is one of my favorite and most frequently worn garments. It is as comfortable as my favorite patagonia fleece jacket, yet stylish at the same time. I love the look of the sequined yarn. 

I am already itching to make another version of this sweater but I am working my way through my UFO's at the moment....

Thanks for reading!