THE CHARLIE
Your step-by-step guide to making your masterpiece
Hey there, stitch superstar! You’ve just unlocked the secret sauce to making your very own Charlie Baby Cardigan, and we’re excited to be stitching it out with you.
This guide will be your BFF through the entire journey. Whether you’re brand new to knitting or just here for a refresh, we’ll take you from “how do I hold these sticks?” to “look what I made!” — one cosy row at a time.
Heads up! You'll need the physical pattern that came in your knit kit as well as this online guide. The pattern contains the specifics, this guide gives you the extra layer of detail.
INCLUDED IN YOUR KIT
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT (Or CLOSE ENOUGH!)
Before we dive into the good stuff, let’s warm up those hands and needles. Think of this like stretching before a workout, except comfier, cuter, and way more fun.
Grab some of the yarn from your kit (just a little, you’ve got enough to spare!), and get familiar with the motions. Try out the stitches you’ll be using in this pattern. This is your time to mess it up, try again, and feel things out — no pressure, no judgement, just you and your new fave hobby.
Bonus: practising now = fewer headaches later (trust us on this one).
Slip Knot
Casting On
Knit Stitch
Purl Stitch
Cast Off
TEST YOUR GAUGE
Once you’re feeling comfy with the stitches, it’s time to check your gauge. We know, we know — it sounds technical, but it’s really just about making sure your tension matches the pattern.
Why? Because different knitters = different stitch tightness. And we want your finished masterpiece to fit like a dream.
So grab your measuring tape, knit up a little swatch (there’s a guide for that at the link below!), and let’s make sure you’re on track before the main event begins.
How to test your gauge
THE CHARLIE CARDIGAN
If done correctly, your 10x10cm knitted swatch should measure 14 stitches wide, and 24 rows high when knitted in stockinette stitch on your 5mm needles.
SIZING AND MEASUREMENTS
You can make your cardigan in four sizes. Your pattern is read like this; 1 (2, 3, 4). Depending on the size you ordered you'll follow the corresponding number.
It can help to highlight the numbers that correlate to your size in your pattern before you begin. The circles are also there you help you keep track of your knitting. The dashed circles are for the larger sizes.
Measurements are taken when the piece is laying flat. Width is from one side of the body to the other. Length is from the shoulder to the waist band.
| Pattern Size | AU Size | Yarn Balls | Measurements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0-3 months | 2 | 24cm wide, 23cm high, 15cm sleeve length |
| 2 | 3-6 months | 2 | 26.5cm wide, 26.4cm high, 16cm sleeve length |
| 3 | 6-9 months | 3 | 29cm wide, 30cm high, 17cm sleeve length |
| 4 | 9-12 months | 3 | 31.5cm wide, 33.5cm high, 18cm sleeve length |
Repeat after me:
“I solemnly swear to knit bravely, unpick calmly, and pretend I meant to do that.
I accept that chaos is part of the craft, and possibly part of my personality.
I will finish what I start… eventually.”
Your cardigan is made in pieces. We knit the back, front pieces and arms separately. Then you’ll use your darning needle to sew them all together. Then add the i-cord ties one at a time.
THE BACK
We start with the back piece which we knit flat from the bottom rib up to the shoulders. This is the biggest piece of your cardigan and once done it will look like a big rectangle.
Using your 5mm needles cast on the correct number of stitches.
💭 If you're using circular needles your stitches will run down onto the plastic tube connecting your needles. That's totally fine!
💡 Your piece of knitting will grow as you knit so don't be concerned if after you've cast on the piece doesn't look wide enough.
First up, we'll knit our rows of 1x1 rib stitch. To create a rib pattern, we knit 1 stitch, then purl the next, then knit the next, then purl the next and repeat.
🧶 Make sure you’re moving your yarn tail from the back to the front of your work between each stitch (bring the yarn in through the middle of the needles) to ensure the rib is executed correctly.
💭 One of the things we found the hardest when we were learning to knit was keeping track of our rows. Before we were able to easily identify a row of stitches we used a pen and paper to keep track. That's why we've included handy circles in our patterns - you can tick them off as you go. The dashed circles are for the larger sizes.
We're going to start knitting in stockinette stitch next. This is where we knit all the stitches in one row, then purl all stitches in the next - we repeat this pattern as instructed.
Cast off your stitches!
When you've got just one stitch left on your right needle, simply cut your yarn from the ball (leaving about 20cm) and thread it back through your last stitch to secure it.
🔥 Nice work! The biggest piece of your cardigan is done!
The good news! The front panels are knitted using the same techniques as the back so these will be a cinch now! 😎
SLEEVES
We knit our sleeves from the top down, meaning we're going to cast on the stitches for the width of the arm piece.
We'll be knitting in stockinette stitch for the majority of the sleeve, until we reach the cuff.
📉 Time to decrease some stitches! To get the shape in our sleeves, we're going to decrease some stitches in the row before we knit the cuff. We do this by knitting two stitches together in places along the row.
The sequence we follow for this row is: knit two stitches together, then knit one as normal - repeat.
You'll finish the sleeve with a 1x1 rib stitch before casting off your stitches.
💡 When you cast off don't do it too tightly or you'll have a very tight hole.
Remember you need two sleeves!
SEWING 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. Just as a diagram outlines.
There is also a video below that goes into the detail of seaming together.
Lay your front and back pieces on a flat surface, the right sides facing you. The right side is the side where you can see the 'v's of your stitches.
Sew the cast-off edges of the front panels and the back panel together (A to A) and (B to B), leaving the gap in the middle for the open front of the cardigan. It's best if you work from the edge of the piece and sew inwards.
Time to attach the sleeves to the body (A to C) and (B to C). 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.
For this step and the next, we use a technique called mattress stitch. This technique is used when joining pieces vertically and it gives us a nice neat (almost) invisible join. It's also a great technique to hide loose or sloppy edges! 😎
You work this seam through the “bars” of stockinette stitch.
Fold your cardi in half long ways with the wrong sides facing each other, we're going to sew the sides together using the same mattress stitch technique.
💭 If you're anything like us you might find seaming a bit of a pain and hard to make super neat. It's a common beginner challenge! The main principle with seaming is no matter what seaming method you use, be sure you're entering into the same place on each stitch along the seam. This consistency makes it harder to see the seam.
Start either at the cuff of the sleeve or the rib of the waist and work your way to the armpit and then around to the other end.
The last thing we do for every piece is weave in the ends. That’s basically just tidying up the piece so all loose ends are trimmed down and tucked into the inside of your work. You use your darning needle and weave those ends into the seams so they are nicely hidden away.
i-CORDS
The final piece to the puzzle, we're going to add two sets of ties to the front of our cardigan so you can secure it on bub.
First, place stitch markers on both sides of the front edges of the cardigan where you’d like the ties to be. It can help to use a measuring tape here to make sure that the ties are equally spaced and equal on on both sides.
Then, starting with one side first, pick up 3 stitches and knit all three stitches as normal but at the end of this row, do not turn your work.
Without flipping your needles around, slide the three stitches back onto your left needle, so that the stitch attached to the ball is the furthest stitch away from the end of your needle.
Now, bring the working yarn tightly across the back of the stitches, so you're ready to knit these stitches again.
Bringing that yarn tightly across the back of the stitches is what makes the tube form. Don’t strangle the stitches, just do a confident tug.
Knit the 3 stitches again. Then repeat the process of knitting 3, sliding the stitches back, pull the yarn snug.
After a few rows, you’ll see a little round cord forming instead of a flat piece. That’s your i-cord.
Continue until your cord is 16-22cm long (depending on your preference).
To finish, cut the yarn and thread the tail through the 3 stitches and pull tight to secure.
Repeat this process until all of your cords are done.
BLOCKING (Optional)
The final step in finishing a knitted piece is to block it. This step is optional and not all beginner knitters will block their work (we didn't always do it 🤣) but it can improve the overall shape and finish of your piece.
Blocking your knitting is a process where you wet your piece to set the finished size and even out the stitches.
You can choose to block your work before you seam it together, or after. If you block before seaming together you might get a better result with your seaming because the stitches will be more lined up.
Soak your knit in cool water. You only need to let your piece sit in the water for a few minutes and make sure the full piece is completely wet.
💡 You can also use a spray bottle and spritz the knit with cool water if you'd prefer.
Remove your knit from the water and dry it off by rolling it in a towel. You want to get us much of the moisture out of the knit as possible at this point but be gentle! You don't want to stretch the knit.
Transfer your damp knit to a flat surface to block it on. If you've got a blocking mat - great! otherwise a towel will work. The surface needs to be somewhere where your knit can lie flat and can stay there until it fully dries so that the shape sets properly. Make sure it's not a surface that can be easily damaged by having something wet sitting on it!
Arrange your piece so the right side is facing up and the shape is as you'd like it. If you've got a measuring tape you can measure and adjust the piece so it's the correct size.
Allow the knit to air dry - this can take a few days. You can also use a hair dryer to speed up the process, just use a light heat and don't concentrate the air in one spot.
