Free Sweater Pattern + Tutorial | Simple Everyday Eyelet Cardigan
The Simple Everyday Eyelet Cardigan is an easy drop shoulder open cardigan knit in the staggered eyelet stitch. The staggered eyelet gives the cardigan a unique texture you can wear all year round. The back, front panels, and sleeves are knit separately and then seamed together. The cardigan is meant to fit a bit oversized because of its drop shoulder construction. Feel free to adjust body and arm length as desired. Instructions are written so that you can knit this sweater in any gauge (any yarn weight and needle size). Please use these instructions as a guide to determine your cast on stitches for each section.
Size Guide + Finished Measurements
Sizes written in 1 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6). This sweater has about 8-12 in/20.5-30.5 cm of positive ease so pick a sweater size accordingly. For example, if you’re a 37 in/94 cm bust, a size 2 or 3 would be appropriate. Note that this sweater is designed to have a lot of positive ease because of its construction. The thinner the yarn, the less ease you might need because the sweater won’t be as bulky.
Yarn
I used 2.5 skeins of Lion Brand Re-Spun Thick + Quick yarn (223 yds/204 m per 12oz/340g skein) for a size 3 sweater knit on 9mm (US 13) needles. You can estimate yardage based on your gauge swatch and calculate overall square inches or centimeters. You can use whatever yarn weight you would like.
Needles
I used a 9mm (US 13) 40 in/101 cm circular needle to knit the entire cardigan. Feel free to go down a needle size for ribbing. You can also knit this on straight needles or shorter circular needles, but you will need a long circular needle for the collar if you pick up and knit the ribbing. You can use whatever needle size you would like.
Notions
Tape Measure
3 Removable Stitch Markers
Tapestry Needle
Scissors
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Gauge
Knit your own gauge swatch in staggered eyelet stitch with your desired yarn weight and needle size to determine how many stitches you’ll have per 4 in/10cm. This step is crucial to help you determine cast on stitches for each sweater section. My gauge was about 10 STS per 4in/10cm, which is what I used in my calculations for cast on stitches. Rows per 4 in/10 cm isn’t relevant as the pattern just references overall lengths, not row count. Instructions are written for you to knit this is any yarn weight and needles size with any gauge you would like.