Knitting Knitting from the DoA archives: biscuitbear's SD girl cardigan pattern

Long, long ago, there were some wonderful patterns posted to the original DoA Yahoogroup, and then imported over to this forum when it got started. As DoA grew and servers changed, those patterns became harder and harder to find. My dear friend SillyDog and I made a project of saving the pattern archive, with the idea of someday adding it to the Wiki or some other part of the forum.

As we have time, we'll post those patterns so everyone can use them! Here's the first one, contributed by the wonderful Helene (biscuitbear), exactly as she wrote it and with her original image. If you use this pattern, please give biscuitbear the credit for it!





SD size cardigan pattern

Note : all my dimensions are in cm or mm (1 inch = 2.54 cm).

Needle size : #3 (French size, that is diameter = 3 mm).

Yarn : I used 1 ball (weight 50 g or 1 oz 3/4, length 190 m or 205 yds) of Bercelonnette from Bergere de France (acrylic 61%, wool 21%, viscose 18%). The gauge is 28 stitches by 36 rows (10 cm by 10 cm).

If someone makes this cardigan in the US and finds what are the equivalent needle size and yarn, please let me know!
Sorry if the explanations are not very clear, my English vocabulary for knitting is lacking. Let me know if you find any mistakes. :

Explanations:

Back:

Cast 37 stitches (approx. 13,5 cm). Knit for 4 rows (garter stitch).

Next, knit in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl the next row, then repeat) for 24 straight rows.

Next, begin to decrease for the armholes (continue to work in stockinette) : cast off 2 stitches at the beginning of the first and second row.Cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th row. You have now finished the armholes.

Knit 8 more straight rows in stockinette.

Next, make the neckline (continue to work in stockinette) : put the 7 center stitches on hold and work the 2 sides separately.

Right side : knit one straight row (taking only 10 stitches and leaving the rest on hold), then cast off 3 stitches at the beginning of the second row (on the wrong side). Knit one straight row, then cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 4th row (on the wrong side). Knit 4 more straight rows and put on hold.
(This makes 52 rows in total since the beginning including the 4 rows of garter stitch and you have 6 stitches left for the shoulder)

Next, take the 17 remaining stitches that you had put on hold, cast off the 7 center stitches, and make the left side symmetrically to the right side.
(I made a low neckline on the backside on purpose so that the cardigan can be worn back to front as a sweater ; if you want a real cardigan you should make the back neckline higher).


Front left:

Note : From row 5 to row 44, begin each second row (purl row) with 3 knitted stitches (not purled).

Cast 20 stitches (approx. 7 cm). Knit for 4 rows (garter stitch).

Next, knit in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl the next row, then repeat) for 24 straight rows.

Next, begin to decrease for the armholes (continue to work in stockinette) : knit one straight row, then cast off 2 stitches at the beginning of the second row. 3rd row straight, cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 4th row. 5th row straight, cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 6th row. 7th row straight, cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 8th row. You have now finished the armholes.

Knit 8 more straight rows in stockinette.

Next, make the neckline (continue to work in stockinette, no need to begin every purl row with 3 knitted stitches anymore) : cast off 5 stitches at the beginning of the 1st row then knit one straight row. Cast off 3 stitches at the beginning of the 3rd row then knit one straight row. Cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 5th row then knit one straight row. Knit 2 more straight rows. Put the 6 remaining stitches on hold.


Front right:

Make symmetrically to the left side. Make a buttonhole in the next to last stitch of rows 3, 13 and 27 (the buttonholes will be in the center of the garter stitch border). The 4th buttonhole will be made in the collar.


Sleeves:

Cast 28 stitches (approx. 10 cm). Knit for 4 rows (garter stitch).

Next, knit in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl the next row, then repeat) for 48 straight rows.

Next, begin to decrease for the armholes (continue to work in stockinette) : cast off 2 stitches at the beginning of the 1st and 2nd rows. Cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th rows. Knit 2 straight rows. Cast off 1 stitch at the beginning of the 9th and 10 rows. Cast off 3 stitches at the beginning of the 11th and 12th rows. Cast off all remaining stitches.


Almost finished!

Assemble the cardigan, pick up stitches all around the collar with a crochet hook (or use any other method you like) and knit 5 straight rows (garter stitch). Make a button hole in the 2nd row. Cast off all stitches on the 6th row. Hide all the remaining thread ends. Attach the buttons. Put on your doll. Admire.

O tsukare-sama deshita!

 

I hope you don't mind that I put your pattern up for everyone to enjoy -- there's nothing unsophisticated about the pattern itself, believe me! And I think your picture is adorable, but then I love blasts from the past.

To demonstrate just how sophisticated this pattern can be, here are some of the variations on it that I've made over the years, by changing needle size or adding a pattern stitch or making the front solid instead of a cardigan (etc). Every one of these sweaters began with biscuitbear's pattern: