The Eliza T-Shirt

By Cardigang Knits Feb 15, 2022

A step by step guide to knitting the Eliza T-Shirt.

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

We have 🙋‍♀️

Learning to knit can feel like learning code which is why we've stripped away the complicated jargon and tried to keep things simple. 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! 🧶 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 high and 9 rows wide. 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.

SIZING

You can knit the Eliza in two sizes- small/medium or large/extra large. Your pattern is read like this: S/M (L/XL).

MEASUREMENTS

Lying flat your finished piece will measure:

📏 Size S/M: 62cm wide x 48cm high

📏 Size L/XL: 68cm wide x 52cm high

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

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

12mm circular needles - we use these for the rib at the bottom, around the arm holes and on the v-neck
15mm straight needles - these are to knit the body of your tee
2 x balls of colour 1
1 x ball of colour 2, 3, 4
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.

KNITTING IN THE ROUND

Knitting in the round is where we use our circular needles and knit continuously in loops, rather than back and forth in rows (like a lot of beginner patterns do). Now don't worry! It's not anywhere near as hard as it sounds. When knitting in the round, you're always knitting on the "front" side of your work so you don't need to turn the piece to knit on the "back" side. Plus, you don't need to sew your pieces together at the end!

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!

Yep, you’re going to create this beauty! 😎

Level up your knitting and your wardrobe with Eliza. She's a barcode stripe stockinette stitch t-shirt with a v-neck and a thick contrast rib. Knit her up in 4 dopamine-inducing colours!

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 using our 15mm needles and working through the colour changes and the split as we create the 'v' shape for the neckline.

Step 1:

Cast on the required number of stitches using your 15mm needles and colour 1 yarn.

Step 2:

We'll knit the allocated number of rows in stockinette stitch - knit the first row, purl the next.

Step 3:

Next, we'll change to colour 2. 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.

Step 4 - 6:

Continue working in stockinette and changing colours as instructed.

Step 7 - 8:

Now we're going to split our work in half to create the v-neck. On this row (row 29), you'll knit 17 (20) stitches and then flip your work and work those same stitches again. The rest of the stitches will just hangout on your needle until we finish this first shoulder and come back to them.

Step 9 -11:

Continue knitting in stockinette and knitting up the first half of your panel.

Step 12:

Cast off those stitches. You'll have the remaining 17 (20) stitches left on your needle. Time to complete the other side!

Step 13 -18:

We're going to rejoin our yarn by tying a knot to the base of the stitch closest to the tip of your left needle. It'll look a little something like this...

Once you're re-attached you simply follow the same pattern to complete the second shoulder.

FRONT

We complete the front in much the same way as the back. The only difference is we start the split in our work a little earlier on as the 'v' in the front panel is deeper than the back.

SEW YOUR SHOULDERS

Time to join your front and back panels so we can get started on the ribbing! Lay your pieces on a flat surface facing upwards. Using your darning needle, sew the shoulder seams together using the mattress stitch technique. We cover that technique in the video below.

ARMHOLE RIBBING

Okay, now we're onto the ribbing section. For this part you'll grab your 12mm circular needles and we're going to knit in sections, starting with the arm holes.