Woodland

Finally, we get to the crown jewl of the book Woodland.

What: Woodland / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 3.0 and 3.25 mm

From: G-uld New Zealandsk Lammeull, 298 g

Woodland is a light-weight cardigan with an echanted forest on the hem.

This oversized cardigan is worked in the round, seamlessly and top-down. It has long sleeves and a boxy hem with no waist shaping.

The shoulders are shaped with short rows and since the hem is cropped, the pattern comes with instructions for an optional bust dart.

As said, the cardigan is worked in the round and steeked, i.e., cut open once finished. You can easily modify this into a pullover by omitting the steek stitches. I also recommend to move the beginning of the chart to the side of pullover.

I love all the little details in this design. My favorite thing is the buttonbands which are worked as steek sandwiches. Usually, steeking happens such that you first pick up and work the button bands, then reinforce the steek either with crochet or a sewing machine and then, cut the cardigan open. Finally, you would stitch the raw edges into place on the wrong side.

With a steek sandwich, the raw edges are completely hidden. You will first reinforce the steek, cut the cardigan open, and then pick up stitches from both RS and WS and work the sandwich that will hide the raw edge inside it. In Woodland, the button bands and the neckline are finished off with an i-cord bind-off which is also used to work the buttonholes.

The button bands and bind off are worked with the contrast color which really brightens up the cardigan.

This is a fun project because the best part, which is obviously the colorwork, happens at the very end. The hem has a sweet little forest on it, complete with trees and little woodland creatures. There are deer, a bear, birds, a bunny and a squirrel. Where the colorwork starts depends a bit on the size you're working. The design comes with a really wide colorwork chart and you can find it in a separate pocket at the back of the book.

You can find all the info on the design below and start planning on your own enchanted forest. Some of the photos were taken by Laine for the book and some we snapped ourselves.

Size

XXS-XS-S-M1 [M2-L1-L2-XL] 2XL-3XL-4XL-5XL

This cardigan is meant to be worn with positive ease. Choose a size with approx. 8’’ / 20 cm positive ease at bust circumference.

Finished measurements

Bust and waist circumference: 38.75-40.75-42.75-45.25 [46.75-48.75-51.25-54.75] 59.25-62-66-71.25’’ / 96.5-101.5-106.5-113.5 [116.5-121.5-128.5-136.5] 148.5-155-165-178.5 cm

Yarn

G-uld New Zealandsk Lammeuld (100% non-superwash wool, 2-ply, 450 m / 100 g), or other light fingering weight yarn. Shown in colors Ufarvet - NZLg2 (MC) and Lyng (CC).

2-2-2-3 [3-3-3-3] 3-4-4-4 skeins of MC, 1-1-1-1 [1-1-1-1] 1-1-2-2 skeins of CC.

Yardage

MC: 840-900-960-1005 [1080-1130-1200-1310] 1455-1570-1770-1910 yrds / 765-820-880-920 [990-1035-1095-1195] 1330-1435-1620-1750 m,

CC: 265-280-290-310 [320-335-350-375] 405-425-455-490 yrds / 275-285-300-320 [330-345-360-385] 420-440-470-505 m.

Needles

US 2½ (3.0 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm) - 40’’ / 100 cm long circular needles and dpns in the smaller size if you prefer to work the sleeves with them. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the right gauge.

Gauge

24 sts x 32 rnds = 4x4’’ / 10x10 cm in colorwork, worked in the round on the bigger needles (after blocking).

24 sts x 35 rnds = 4x4’’ / 10x10 cm in stockinette stitch worked in the round on the smaller needles (after blocking).

Other

4 stitch markers, scrap yarn, E-4 (3.5 mm) crochet hook, tapestry needle, 7-8 buttons (0.5’’ / 1.4 cm diameter), 2 spare circular needles in the smaller size, or smaller than that.