Arien - the pattern?

So, here goes. It's not comprehensive and frankly some of the bits are missing. However, armed with Barbara Walker's "Knitting from the top", or any of Stef Japel's patterns, you should be fine! My Magknits pattern is waaaay better than this - don't worry!

Resources and links are at the end of this blog post. Good luck!

Yarn: Plymouth Stone Cotton - 52% cotton, 48% acrylic. 12.5 x 50g (106yds) ~1325 yds/1212 m (always round up!)

Tension/Gauge - 4.5 sts and 6.5 rows = 1" (really helps if you put this in first time around - doh!)

Needles: US7 (4.5 mm) Denise Interchangable needle set (invaluable for top-down knitting)

Measurements: To fit 41"/104 cm chest.

Finished chest size 44"/112 cm

ABBREVIATIONS:

(for combined method knitting)

K2tog = knit two together

SSK = slip 1, slip1, place stitches back on LH needle and k2tog

(For conventional knitting, for k2tog do SSK and vice versa.)

P2tog = purl two together

P2togtbl = purl two together through the backs of the loops.

C6B = slip 3 stitches onto cable needle and hold at back of the work. Knit 3 stitches from LH needle and then 3 from cable needle.

C6F = sl 3 to c.n. and hold at front. K3 from LH needle, and then 3 from c.n.

Kfb = knit into the front and back of the stitch

M1 = make a stitch by your favoured method

Rem. = remaining

Beg. = begin/beginning

g. st. = garter stitch

c.o. = cast on

c. off = cast off

w/ = with

w/o = without

Cable (from Harmony guide: 220 Aran Stitches):

Worked over 16 stitches, beg. with RS row:

1. P2, K12, P2
2. K2, P12, K2
3. P2, C6B, C6F, P2
4. K2, P12, K2
5. P2, K12, P2
6. K2, P12, K2
7. P2, K12, P2
8. K2, P12, K2
9. P2, C6B, C6F, P2
10. K2, P12, K2
11. P2, K12, P2
12. K2, P12, K2
13. P2, K12, P2
14. K2, P12, K2
15. P2, C6F, C6B, P2
16. K2, P12, K2
17. P2, K12, P2
18. K2, P12, K2
19. P2, K12, P2
20. K2, P12, K2
21. P2, C6F, C6B, P2
22. K2, P12, K2
23. P2, K12, P2
24. K2, P12, K2

For the cables running down the front, only 2 purl stiches are needed, because the cable is bordered on the opposite side by the garter stitch button band.

INSTRUCTIONS.

Cast on ??57?? sts.

The stitches are as follows:

1 front stitch/1 raglan seam stitch/12 sleeve stitches/1 seam st/27 back sts/1 seam st/12 sleeve sts/1 seam st/1 front st.

(I'd highly recommend placing a marker where there is a "slash")

1. Increase in the front stitch (kfb), m1, k1 (seam st.), m1, k12, m1, k1, m1, k27, m1, k1, m1, k12, m1, k1, m1, kfb.
2. P4, k1, p12, k1, p31, k1, p12, k1, p to end.

Cont. inc. as set in row 1, and start cable pattern now, with cable row 3.

Cont. inc. at front until the piece reaches kinda the collar bone - you know the bit that sticks out either side of your throat.

At some point you will have noticed that you've got the required no. of sts to begin the cables down the fronts. You can plan this part and therefore will have included the framing purl stitches that are part of the cable. Or you could do what I did - realise too late that you've reached this point, panic, and drop two stitches down to the neck edge and use a crochet hook to turn them from knit stitches to purl stitches. I'd recommend the first method - much less stressful!

At the beg. of row, C.O. half the number of sts to needed to reach right around the neck, plus 4 sts. do the same at the end of the row.

Keep the 1^st 4 and last 4 sts in g. st. through, and STOP INCREASING AT THIS POINT!!!

Work these increase rows until the raglan "seam" equals the raglan depth, ending on a WS row.

Work the stitches on the LF only and stop when you reach the left sleeve marker. Slip all the body stitches onto spare yarn. DO NOT BREAK YARN!!!

Cast on 3 stitches using backward loop method. Knit the rem. sts. on the sleeve (keeping cable in pattern) and c.o. 3 sts at end of row. Rep. this for R sleeve, using a second ball of yarn. (I always try and knit both sleeves at once - it's a time-saver in the long run and if you make a mistake on one, you've done it on the other as well!)

Sleeve decreases:

Dec. 1 st each edge (1 st in) every 4 rows 16 times and then every 5 rows 9 times (some of the last decreases will be on WS rows). Work the 1^st RS decs as K2tog (combination) and the 2^nd dec as SSK. Work the 1^st WS dec as P2tog and the 2^nd as P2togtbl.

Work erm... 8 rows g. st.?

C.off

Cast 6 sts onto needle and then Rejoin yarn at the left side of the back and complete the suspended row that you started when you began the sleeves. Cast 6 stitches onto needle in between the back and RF.

Knit straight until you loose the will to live reach the desired length.

Work the same number of g. st. rows that you did for the sleeves. C.off.

Starting at the RF, pick up sts around the neckline (approx. 1 st. picked up for every one cast on/increased) and work in g. st. for ??8 rows?? C. off.

FIN.

If there are any glaring omissions leave a comment or email me using the link in the side bar. And remember - I did this for the love of the knit, so if you're nice, you'll actually get a response from me!

Resources:

Barbara Walker "Knitting from the Top"

Harmony Guide "220 Aran Stitches"

Backward Loop cast on

Step Japel a.k.a Glampyre

P2togtbl technique

SSP technique

Combined knitting:

Annie Modesitt - Knit stitch and Purl stitch
Grumperina's fantastic stitch "translation" glossary

Pictures of the cardigan are in this blog post.