A step by step guide to knitting the beautiful, Eleanor. 

Ever gotten half way through a project and thought “Hang on, am I even doing this right?”

We have 🙋‍♀️

That’s why we’ve created these step by step overviews to help guide you through the knitting process. At each stage we’ll show you how each section of your piece should look, and at the end, how to sew it all together. Voilà!

THE BASICS

If you're a total knitting newbie - WELCOME! Learning to knit can feel like learning code. We've stripped away the complicated jargon and tried to keep things really simple. 🧶

Before we get started on the pattern it’s a good idea to learn the basic stitches you’ll need to complete your masterpiece. You can use the yarn that came in your kit to practice with, just be gentle with the yarn - it’s super fine so will break if it’s worked too hard or too many times. We’ve put the below video together to cover the basics.  Learn how to cast on, do a knit stitch, a purl stitch and put them together to create a 1x1 rib stitch, lastly we learn casting off. Once you've got these mastered you'll find this pattern is a cinch! 

💭 For more detailed videos of each technique, head down a little further where we've got specific videos for each stitch type.  

🏅🧶 You got this! ⚡️💪

Remember learning a new skill can be a little hard at first and you’re bound to find yourself making some mistakes along the way. But as with learning anything, your brain and your hands slowly start to get the hang of it, muscle memory is created, and soon the thing you found tricky/daunting/scary is like second nature! 

If you get stuck, reach out to us and we'll give you a hand! 😎

TEST YOUR TENSION

It’s a good idea to check that the tension (how tightly or loosely your knitting is) is in line with what we need. We knit a “tension swatch” to make sure the tension is juuuust right. It's a bit like goldilocks, if the tension is too tight, your jumper will be too small, and if it's too loose it may not hold it's shape and might be too big. 

If done correctly, your 10x10cm knitted swatch should be 7 stitches wide and 9 rows high. To test this, jump on your needles, cast on around 12 stitches, then knit in stockinette stitch (row 1 knit, row 2 purl) for around 10 rows. Then get a measuring tape and measure out 10x10cm and count your stitches and rows to make sure you're knitting at the correct tension. 

ONTO THE ELEANOR

SIZING

You can knit the Eleanor in size S-M (AU6-12) or L-XL (AU14-18). Your pattern is read like this: S-M (L-XL).

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Your kit comes with everything you need to knit your masterpiece. To knit Eelanor you’ll use;

• 12mm circular needles - we use these for the rib around the front and on the cuffs

• 15mm needles - these are to knit the body of your cardi

• 7-8 x ball of colour 1

• 1 x ball of colour 2

• Darning needle - this is used to sew your masterpiece together and weave in loose ends

THE TECHNIQUES YOU’LL MASTER

CASTING ON

We recommend using the two needle technique. Two needle cast on uses your two needles (surprise!), starting with a slip knot on your left needle, each stitch is knitted to form a new loop and this loop is then added to your left needle. You repeat until you’ve made the desired number of stitches. To see casting on in action watch our "Master The Basics" video above. 

💭 Casting on, like many things in knitting, can be done in a number of ways - our suggestion is a simple technique but you can pick any that’s right for you. 

KNIT STITCH 

This handy little stitch makes up the backbone of most knitting patterns. Each knit stitch looks like a little ‘v’.

PURL STITCH 

The second most common stitch, purl stitches look like little bumps (or purls!). Where you knit a knit stitch with your yarn tail at the back of your work and your needle going into the back of the stitch, the purl is the opposite, so your yarn tail is at the front of your work and your needle goes into the front of the stitch. 

STOCKINETTE STITCH

Stockinette Stitch (or stocking stitch) is a basic stitch that most knitting patterns often don't explain! When knitting flat, you create stockinette stitch by knitting one row and purling the next. This means all of your knit stitches (the little Vs) will be on the right side of your jumper.

RIB STITCH

1x1 rib stitch is a textured pattern usually used on the cuffs and necks of jumpers. It’s made by alternating knit and purl stitches in the same row, then knitting the same stitch sequence in the next row. When doing your rib stitch it’s important to make sure your yarn is on the correct side of your needles (at the back for knit stitches and at the front for purl stitches). To see rib stitch in action watch our "Master The Basics" video above. 

CASTING OFF

To cast off, knit two stitches then slip the first stitch on your right needle back over the second stitch and off the needle. You’ll have one stitch left on your right needle. Knit another stitch so you’ve got two stitches on your right needle and then slip the first stitch off. Continue to the end of the row. When you’ve got the last stitch on your right needle, cut the yarn and thread this through the final stitch to secure. To see casting off in action watch our "Master The Basics" video above. 

OKAY, LET’S KNIT UP A STORM! 

BACK

We start with the back panel, it’s the simplest piece of the knit and will give you the confidence as you move onto other pieces. We knit from the bottom up, starting at the rib and going up to the shoulders. 

Step 1:

Cast on the required number of stitches using your 12mm circular needles and colour 1 yarn.

Step 2:

Once you've cast on the right number of stitches you move on to the rib. We knit the rib following the instructions in your pattern. Remember to create a rib we knit 1 stitch, then purl the next. Make sure you’re moving your yarn tail from the back to the front of our stitch to ensure the stitch is executed correctly. 

Step 3:

Next, we move onto using our 15mm needles and into stockinette stitch. 

To switch to a different size needle we just hold the new needle (in this case the 15mm straight needle) in our right hand and knit onto the stitch on your 10mm needle in your left hand. Simple! 

We knit the required number of rows of stockinette stitch. 

Step 4: 

Next we're going to change our yarn colour to colour 2 and knit the bands of stripes. We always change colours at the end of a row. Watch the video below to see how. 

 

We’ll work the allocated rows of stockinette stitch in colour 2.

Step 5 - 8: 

We'll change back to colour 1, then back to colour 2 as we knit the three stripes.

Step 9: 

Finally, we'll knit the bulk of the cardigan in stockinette all in colour 1.

Step 10: 

Time to cast off our stitches to finish the back piece. Well done! 

FRONT PANELS

We're going to knit 2 front panels. The process of knitting the front pieces is the same as it was for the back panel.

Knit, knit, knit, knit... 

SLEEVES

Onto the sleeves. You'll do two of theses too 😎🧶

We start at the top of the sleeve and knit down to the rib. 

Step 1: 

Using your 15mm needles and colour 1, cast on the correct number of stitches.

Step 2-8: 

We're going to knit in stockinette stitch for the allocated number of rows. This should be a cinch by now! 💪 Change colours as instructed to knit in the coloured stripes.

Step 9: 

To get the shape in our sleeve, we're going to decrease some stitches before we knit the cuff. You'll knit 3 stitches, then knit two stitches together along the row until you've got 3 stitches left, then knit the last 3 stitches. You should have 18 (20) stitches left on your needle.

Step 10:

Once that’s done you'll swap to your 12mm needles to start your rib stitch for the allocated number of rows. 

Step 11:

Cast off your stitches. When you cast off make sure it’s not too tight otherwise you’ll have a really tight wrist hole!

SEWING IT TOGETHER

We're SO CLOSE! I can see the finish line 🎢🙌

Now it’s time to get to work with the darning needle to sew your masterpiece together. We lay our pieces flat and sew them together one by one.

Step 1:

Lay your front and back pieces on a flat surface, the right sides facing you. 

Step 2:

Sew the shoulder panels together using the invisible seam technique, and leaving the hole in the middle for the open front of the cardi.

Step 3:

Time to attach the sleeves to the body. Make sure the middle of your sleeve is lined up with the shoulder seam. This will ensure the seam of your sleeve is right under your armpit, not half way around your arm! Once you've made sure it's all lined up, sew the sleeves to the shoulders. 

Step 4:

Fold your cardi in half long ways with the wrong sides facing each other, we're going to sew it together using a Mattress Stitch, from the arm cuff all the way up the arm to the arm pit, then down the side seam to the bottom of your jumper. And then repeat this on the other side. 

💭 We suggest trying to match the colour yarn you use to the jumper to keep it as invisible as possible. It's normal for the wool to get a bit shabby as you go, so we recommend using a few pieces and tying them together underneath as you go!

We'd 💕LOVE💕 to see how you go! Share your masterpiece with us by tagging @cardigang_knits on Instagram or by sending us an email at hello@cardigang.com.au 

Until next time! 😘🧶

Morgan & Cat xx