This is a combination of two patterns. In essence, it's the Regan cardigan from the Rowan Softknit Collection (which I picked up in the John Lewis sale for £2 - gotta love a bargain).
I liked the shape of the cardigan, but the whole thing is just plain stocking stitch and I fancied something a little different. I then found one of my Granny's old vintage patterns for a cardigan which looked a bit dated overall (think MASSIVE collar), but had a simple-but-effective stitch pattern. So I combined the basic Regan cardigan with the vintage stitch pattern on the front and back pieces, and this is the result.
The stitch pattern is nothing complicated - all it involves is purling every 4th stitch on the knit rows (row 1 is k1, (p1, k3) to the end, and row 3 is k3, (p1, k3) to the end). It may be simple, but I really like the almost dotty, textured effect that it produces.
I recently found The Knitting Stitch Bible in a charity shop (I told you I love a bargain!), and it has a stitch called small broken stocking stitch which is very similar, just with the purl stitches spaced slightly further apart than mine are.
The yarn I used is Beregere de France Sonora, a cotton and acrylic blend which I picked up on offer (did I mention that I love a bargain?!) from Love Knitting. I think it may have been discontinued, which is a shame because I found that it knit up really well and it's lovely to wear too. In fact, I like it so much that I'm already knitting another cardigan using a different shade of the same yarn!
The shade I used here is called Balsamine, which is a lovely pale dusky pink colour. It's getting a bit bleached out by the sun in these photos, and is definitely more pink in real life. Over the weeks that I had this sitting on my lap as I knitted, I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the dresses I was wearing it goes with - definitely a good indication that it'll get worn a lot.
I knit the cardigan in size M - I'm at the upper end of the size range and the cardigan fits me nicely with a little bit of positive ease, so it would definitely be worth thinking about sizing down if you're at the smaller end of the size range or if you like a more fitted look.
The Regan pattern is really good for a basic cardigan. I think it would be great for newbie knitters wanting to try their first garment, or equally for a nice relaxing project if you have a bit more experience.
As you've probably guessed, I'm really pleased with how this has turned out, and I'd definitely use this pattern again as a way to test out some of the other stitch patterns in The Knitting Stitch Bible. Have you got any knitting projects on the go? And do you like bargain hunting as much as I do?!
