Knitwear Design - Designing and Knitting the Julie Cardigan
The Julie Cardigan
Today is the official launch of the Julie Cardigan, thanks again to everyone who pre-ordered! I started out writing blogs for each of my designs and thought it would be fun to go back to that tradition with this sweater, so here is a behind the scenes peek into the work that went into this pattern!
Julie was inspired truly by Hummingbird, the luscious yarn from Sweet Sparrow which I knit my sample with, when I first saw this superwash merino/silk blend it screamed romance. I thought of Bridgerton, summer wild flowers, lavender lattes and late summer weddings in secret gardens. I was reminded of a vintage lingerie knitting pattern I had been playing with a few months ago, it used a beautiful lace stitch that look like tiny peacock feathers.
This pattern is a favorite of mine because it really all came together the way I had envisioned. The vintage lace stitch looks lovely in this bell-shaped sweater with lots of drape. My own sample took several months to knit. It's just lots of lace to knit with lots of shaping! The result has been totally worth it and my test knitters have said the same!
The Test Knitting Process
My team of test knitters for this cardigan have been incredibly stellar! We all worked together for about three months. Unfortunately quite a few of my testers found that during that time unexpected and sometimes tragic life events interfered with them finishing on time. Although we extended the deadline an extra 10 days or so, life just happens to all of us.
It's a bit unusual for a designer to admit that the testing process had some problems, but I pride myself in being really transparent. The problems this time were not with my pattern, there were very few edits made during the testing process on the Julie Cardigan, mostly notes to make things more clear. However; there were still problems in that I don't have many finished photos to share yet.
The group of folks who worked on this test was and are still all amazing and were very supportive of each other, as well as me. I'm really confident in this pattern thanks to their hard work. I am also greatly looking forward to sharing more finished photos with you!
The Knitting
Are you thinking about making your own Julie Cardigan? You should! This lightweight ultra-feminine piece is incredibly versatile. Wear Julie with jeans and a tank to the park, or with a floral dress to the next summer wedding you attend. Knit in a dark color, Julie becomes very witchy and grown up for drinks, or a night of dining with someone special.
What do you need to know before you cast on? Well, I wouldn't call this pattern easy; but, it's still all just one stitch at a time! The lace pattern is simple and only works increases/decreases on the right side. You will probably find it easy to memorize, which helps as you will be working increases and decreases to create the beautiful shape of this sweater.
Julie is knit flat in pieces and then seamed, so it's an ideal pattern for knitting through the warm months as you'll just be working one piece of lace at a time. The only finishing after seaming is along the neckline, there is a knit edge finished with an i-cord bind-off and two i-cord ties at the bust. Some test knitters omitted the ties which still ended up looking very clean and sophisticated!
This won't be the fastest sweater you've ever knit but it may end up winning as one of your most worn! Especially through transitional seasons like Spring and Fall.
Purchase the pattern for the Julie Cardigan here!
I would love to hear your thoughts or your experience knitting this pattern! Thank you as always for your interest in my work, for the best pricing on all of my patterns as well as notifications about new blog posts, test knits and special collaborations, sign up for my email newsletter at the bottom of this page.