by Julie Crawford

Velvet Morning began as a quest for the ideal slouchy cardigan. I imagined throwing it on with jeans before heading out on a weekend morning to grab a coffee, or meet friends for brunch. It had to be the kind of cardigan that is effortless to wear and super comfortable. It had to have lots of interesting visual details so that it would make anything you are wearing an outfit, without having to spend time thinking about what else would go with it.

Now that the weather is cooler and I can wear it all the time, I couldn’t be happier. It’s my go-to weekend sweater.

The body is worked in one piece from the bottom up. Sleeves are knitted flat and seamed. The collar/neck edging is worked separately and sewed on.

SIZE
XXS[XS, S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X, 4X]
(Shown in size XXS with 4 inches of positive ease)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest Circumference: 36[38, 40, 42, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62] inches including front band/collar
Note: Choose a size with at least 4-6 inches of positive ease.
Length: 27[27, 28.5, 29.5, 31.5, 32, 33, 34, 35] inches from shoulder to hem.

MATERIALS
Yarn
Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label Aran Weight [100% merino, 205yds/187m per 115g skein)

Color Option 1 (Blue):
[MC] Midnight; 6[6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12] skeins
[CC1] Atlantic; 1 [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2] skeins
[CC2] Sand; 1 skein
[CC3] Mallard; 1 skein

Color Option 2 (Sand):
[MC] Sand; 6[6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12] skeins
[CC1] Dove; 1[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2] skeins
[CC2] Plum; 1 skein
[CC3] Lilac; 1 skein

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 US #8/5mm circular needles, 40 inches or longer

Notions
yarn needle
2 stitch markers

GAUGE

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

M1P: Insert left needle, from back to front, under strand of yarn which runs between last stitch on left needle and first stitch on right needle; purl this stitch. 1 st increased.

Sweater is intended to be oversized, and worn with 4-6 inches of positive ease.

For ease of knitting, there are two colorwork charts to correspond to the two colorways displayed in the samples.

The colorwork will not be perfectly symmetrical for both Left and Right fronts. Simply work in pattern across row, repeating motif in border, and finish by working remaining sts in pattern as per chart. Remember to continue from left to right over these same sts in the following WS row.

All stitches for colorwork chart are knit on the RS and purled on the WS.

Charts
The charts for this pattern are very large. Each fits on a letter-sized page.

Click the appropriate colorway below and the resulting page.

Midnight chart � Sand chart

DIRECTIONS
BODY
Using MC, cast on 150[160, 170, 180, 200, 220, 240, 260, 280] sts.

Work in k2, p2 ribbing for 3[3, 3, 3, 3.5, 3.5, 4, 4, 4] inches.

Beginning with a RS row, work two rows in St st.

Work Rows 1-66 of Colorwork Chart (Sand or Midnight) once.

With MC only, begin working St st once more, AT THE SAME TIME, on the first row, pm after first 37[40, 42, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70] sts, then pm 76[80, 86, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140] sts after that.

Cont in St st for 4[4, 4.5, 4.5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5] inches more, ending with a WS row.

Shape Armholes:
Next Row [RS]: Work to 3[3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7] sts before marker, BO 6[6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 14] sts (removing marker), knit to 3[3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7] sts before second marker, BO 6[6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 14] sts (removing marker), knit to end of row.

LEFT FRONT
Cont on Left Front only, working armhole shaping as follows:
Next Row [WS]: Purl.
Next Row [RS]: K1, ssk, knit to end.
Rep last 2 rows 4[5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14] times more. 29[31, 31, 33, 36, 39, 41, 44, 48] sts

Cont working even in St st until piece measures 7[7, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10, 11, 12, 13] inches from armhole bind off.

BO 3[3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6] sts at beg of next 4 RS rows. BO rem sts.

RIGHT FRONT
With RS facing, attach MC and work across Right Front only, shaping armhole as follows:
Next Row [RS]: Knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
Next Row [WS]: Purl.
Rep last 2 rows 4[5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14] times more. 29[31, 31, 33, 36, 39, 41, 44, 48] sts

Cont working even in St st until piece measures 7 [7, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10, 11, 12, 13] inches from armhole bind off. BO 3[3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6] sts at beg of next 4 WS rows. BO rem sts.

SLEEVE [Make 2]
CO 44 [44, 44, 46, 46, 48, 48, 50, 50] sts and work in k2, p2 ribbing for 2.5 [2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 3, 3, 3, 3] inches.

Begin working the chart: On row 15[15, 15, 13, 13, 11, 11, 9, 9] of chart, begin increasing as follows while maintaining the chart pattern: k1, m1, cont in chart patt to last st, m1, k1.

Note: If increase falls on a WS row, work row as p1, m1p, cont in chart patt to last st, m1p, p1.

Continue increasing in this manner every 4[4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2] rows 5[7, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31] times more, then every 8[8, 8, 8, 8, 6, 6, 5, 5] rows 2[2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1] times more. 60 [64, 70, 76, 84, 92, 100, 108, 116] sts.

Continue working back and forth without further increases (when chart is complete, continue in MC only) until sleeve measures 16.5 [16.5, 16.5, 17, 17, 17, 17.5, 17.5, 17.5] inches from cast on.

Shape sleeve cap:
BO 4[4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7] sts at the beginning of the next two rows.

Dec 1 st each side of every RS row 8[8, 8, 8, 10, 8, 8, 6, 6] times as follows: k1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.

Then dec 1 st each side of every other RS row 3[3, 3, 3, 2, 5, 5, 7, 8] times.

BO 3[3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5] sts at the beginning of the next 4 rows. BO rem sts.

FINISHING
Wet block sweater and sleeves. Seam sleeves and set into armholes. Sew side seams.

Julie Crawford lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband, two cats, and a hedgehog. She works for a nonprofit by day, and knits like crazy at night.

She can be found here.