Women’s Knit Play Day Cardigan

After making the Child’s Play Day Cardigan and seeing how nice it was for them to wear it going out to play, but also how well it worked to be layered when we were going someplace nice I thought it would make a great cardigan for a woman.  Don’t we also want things that are versatile to wear in different situations, from going to get groceries to dressing up for work or church?  Don’t we also want something that looks tailored and well fitting but comfortable at the same time?

note: this page contains affiliate links

So, here it is – the women’s version!  With two inches in ease it’s fit is close enough to look nicely fitted, but not be too uncomfortable and restrictive.  The textured brioche/tuck pattern on the front of the cardigan gives a nice detail element to a classic cardigan design.  While the pattern looks complicated it is a repeat of 4 rows with the fanciness coming from slipped stitches, or tuck in machine knitting. 

Made from Premier Yarns Serenity wool fingering sock weight yarn, this cardigan has a nice weight to it to become a favorite to wear in all seasons.  With the wool, this makes a great layering cardigan for those winter days and is perfect for those chilly spring and fall days when you don’t want to wear a jacket.  This cardigan will also be the perfect companion for restaurants in the summer where they have the air conditioning on more than you prefer. 

I hope you find this sweater as much fun to make and wear as I have. If you would like to see the machine knit version of the pattern click HERE.

Click HERE to see the Child’s Play Day Cardigan.

Knit Play Day Women’s Cardigan
by City Farmhouse Studio 

Get the printable PDF version of the pattern (without ads) HERE. 
Add it to your Ravelry favorites HERE.
Machine knitters – see a version of the pattern for you HERE.

Premier Serenity Sock Yarn – Black – 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9 skeins (get it HERE)
(Yarn Alternative Options:  Rico Design Superba Bamboo Superwash 4-ply, Regia Premium Bamboo 4-ply , King Cole Zig Zag 4ply)

Knitting Needles Size 3 and 3.25mm
5/8” Buttons – 7

Size:  XS, S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X
Chest: 32, 34, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52 inches

Gauge:
4” x 4” = 28 st x 36 rows stockinette
4” x 4” = 22 st x 60 rows of pattern for front panels of cardigan

Stitch Guide:

Wrap and turn (prevents holes in work) – Bring the yarn to the front between the needles. Slip the next stitch on the left needle to the right needle purl wise. Bring the yarn to the back going between the needles. Slip the previous slipped stitch from the right needle back to the left.  Turn your work to begin the next row.  When binding off, pick up both the wrap and the stitch it wrapped and bind off as one stitch.

The youtube video https://youtu.be/qYUsA7YlSOs shows the following stitches being used to create the front stitch texture in the pattern. 

sl1yo (slip 1 stitch and yarn over)

–slip stitch as you would for a knit stitch but have the yarn over the needle.  This creates a stitch with the yarn only over the top of the needle and NOT wrapped around it.  

sl1+yo (slip 1 stitch with 1 yarn over, and yarn over again)

– slip the stitch purl wise with the yarn over that was made on the previous row, and have the yarn go over the needle again.  This creates another yarn over to the stitch that already had a yarn over , making the stitch have two yarn overs in total.

brk+1 (brioche knit the stitch with the one yarn over plus 1 more yarn over)

– knit the stitch going through the original stitch and the 2 yarn overs.

Back:

With size 3mm needles cast-on 128, 138, 150, 162, 174, 184, 196  stitches. 

Work a 2×2 rib for 17, 17, 19, 19, 19, 21, 21 rows.

Switching to 3.25mm needles work 12.5, 12.5, 12.75, 12.75, 12.75, 12.75, 12.75 inches of stockinette.   

Bind off 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9 stitches at beginning of row.  Finish working row.

Bind off 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9 stitches at beginning of row.  Finish working row.

Bind off 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4 stitches at beginning of row.  Finish working row.

Bind off 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4 stitches at beginning of row.  Finish working row.

Decrease 1 st on right and left side of row.   (RS: K1, k2tog, knit to last 3 sts, ssk, k1.  WS:  P1, ssp, purl to last 3 sts, p2tog, p1.)  Work 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 additional row without any decrease.

Repeat the step above 5, 6, 9, 10, 10, 11, 11 more times.  (Stitches total 100, 106, 110, 120, 128, 136, 146)

Decrease 1 st on right and left of row (RS: K1, k2tog, knit to last 3 sts, ssk, k1.  WS:  P1, ssp, purl to last 3 sts, p2tog, p1.)  Work 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1 additional rows without any decrease.    

Repeat the step above 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 6, 9 more times.   (Stitches total 94, 100, 104, 110, 118, 122, 126)

Knit stockinette for 5.25, 5.5, 4.75, 4.25, 4.25, 6.25, 5.75  inches. 

Work first 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 49, 49 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 49, 49 stitches for next row.  

Work first 30, 32, 32, 34, 36, 37, 36 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 30, 32, 32, 34, 36, 37, 36 stitches for next row.

Work first 27, 29, 29, 31, 33, 34, 34 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 27, 29, 29, 31, 33, 34, 34 stitches for next row.  

Work first 24, 26, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 24, 26, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32 stitches for 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2 rows.  

Bind off stitches just worked.

Transfer stitches to work other side of shoulder.

Work first 41, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50, 51 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 41, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50, 51 stitches for next row.  

Work first 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 36 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 36 stitches for next row.

Work first 27, 29, 29, 31, 33, 34, 34 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 27, 29, 29, 31, 33, 34, 34 stitches for next row.

Work first 24, 26, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32 stitches, wrap and turn.  Work same 24, 26, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32 stitches for 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3 rows. 

Bind off all stitches on needle.

 

Front Left (purl side is right side of fabric):

With size 3mm needles cast-on 55, 61, 67, 71, 76, 82, 86 stitches.

Work a 2×2 rib for 17, 17, 19, 19, 19, 21, 21 rows.

Switching to 3.25mm needles purl one row with evenly spaced decreases of 11, 13, 15, 15, 16, 18, 18 stitches to have 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 68 stitches in work.  Do this by working 6, 5, 4, 6, 7, 6, 9 stitches. Purl the next two stitches together. Repeat purling 2 together then working 2 purl stitches for total decreases. Purl the last 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches at the end of the row.

Row 1:  K1, *k1, sl1yo*.  Repeat from *to* until 1 stitch remains.  K1.

Row 2:  P1, * sl1+yo, p1*.  Repeat from *to* until 1 stitch remains.  P1.

Row 3:  K1, *sl1yo, brk+1 *.  Repeat from *to* until 1 stitch remains.  K1.

Row 4:  P1, *p1, sl1+yo*.  Repeat from *to* until 1 stitch remains.  P1.

Row 5:  K1, * brk+1, sl1yo*.  Repeat from *to* until 1 stitch remains.  K1.

*hint – think of the yarn overs as the stitch having a shawl.  The first yarn over on the knit side will create 1 shawl. The next yarn over on the purl side will create the 2nd shawl on the same stitch.  On the next purl row you will knit all the stitches with shawls with 1 stitch, and create a shawl for the stitches that previously didn’t have any.*

Repeat Row 2 – 5 to create 12.5, 12.5, 12.75, 12.75, 12.75, 12.75, 12.75 inches of the pattern.  End with a Row 4.  

Begin shaping arm hole by binding off 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7 stitches (note – bind off any sl1yo or sl1+yo stitches as one stitch).  Knit the next stitch and then continue the pattern for the row.  Work 1 row of pattern without any decreases. 

Bind off 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3 stitches.  Knit the next stitch and then continue the row in pattern.  Work 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2 rows of pattern without any decreases.  (Stitches total 38, 42, 45, 48, 52, 55, 58) 

Work one row of pattern decreasing one stitch at the same side as other decreases.  Work 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1 rows of pattern without any decreases.
Repeat the above rows 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 3, 5 more times.  (Stitches total 37, 41, 44, 46, 50, 51, 52)

Work one row of pattern decreasing one stitch at the same side as other decreases.  Work 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2 rows of pattern without any decreases.
Repeat the above rows 3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 5 more times.  (Stitches total 33, 37, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46)

Work one row of pattern decreasing one stitch at the same side as other decreases.  Work 5, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 rows of pattern without any decreases.
Repeat the above rows 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4 more times.  (Stitches total 31, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41)

Work pattern for an additional 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2.75  inches without any decreases. End with a row 5.

Bind off first 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3 stitches for neckline.  Knit the next stitch and then continue the row in pattern.  Work 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 rows of pattern without any decreases. 

Work one row of pattern decreasing one stitch at the same side as other decreases for neckline.  Work 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 row of pattern without any decreases.
Repeat above rows 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1 more times.  (Stitches total 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36)

Work one row of pattern decreasing one stitch at the same side as other decreases.  Work 1 row of pattern without any decreases.
Repeat above rows 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4  more times.  (Stitches total 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)

Work one row of pattern decreasing one stitch at the same side as other decreases.  Work 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5 rows of pattern without any decreases.
Repeat above rows 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 5 more times.  (Stitches total 20, 21, 22, 22, 24, 25, 25)

Work 1, 1, 1, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.5 inches of pattern without any decreases.  Bind off.

Front Right:

Repeat front left except begin arm shaping after Row 5, and neck shaping after Row 4.

Sleeve:  (make 2)

With size 3mm needles cast on 64, 66, 70, 74, 74, 76, 78 stitches.  

Switching to 3.25mm needles work a 2×2 rib for 17, 17, 19, 19, 19, 21, 21 rows.

Knit 7, 5, 4, 4, 5, 3, 2 rows in stockinette.

On the next row increase by one stitch at the beginning and end of the row. Knit 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2 more rows without any increases.

Repeat 17, 20, 23, 25, 29, 32, 35 more times.  (Stitches total 100, 108, 118, 126, 134, 142, 150)

Knit 4, 4, 4, 14, 24, 13, 2 rows in stockinette.

Bind off 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8 stitches at the beginning of the next row.

On the next row, bind off 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8 stitches at the beginning.  Complete the row. (Stitches total 86, 94, 104, 112, 118, 126, 134) 

Bind off 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4 stitches at the beginning of the row and work the rest of the row in stockinette.  Repeat 3, 3, 5, 1, 1, 1, 1  more time. (Stitches total 78, 86, 92, 106, 112, 118, 126)

Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning and end for the next row.  Work 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 row without any decreases.  Repeat 5, 4, 6, 8, 8, 3, 5 more time.  (Stitches total 66, 76, 78, 88, 94, 110, 114)

Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning and end of the next row.  Work 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1 row without any decreases.  Repeat 4, 5, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3 more times.  (Stitches total 56, 64, 66, 74, 82, 100, 106)

Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning and end of the next row.  Work 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 rows without any decreases.  Repeat 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 3 more times.  (Stitches total 50, 54, 56, 64, 72, 88, 98)

Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning and end of the next row.  Work 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1 row without any decreases.  Repeat 1, 1, 1, 0, 2, 7, 11 more times.  (Stitches total 46, 50, 52, 62, 66, 72, 74)

Bind off 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2 stitches at the beginning of the row and work the rest of the row in stockinette.  Repeat 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 9 more times.  (Stitches total 34, 38, 40, 44, 48, 48, 54)

Bind off 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7 stitches at the beginning of the row and work the rest of the row in stockinette.  Repeat 3 more times.  (Stitches total 10, 14, 16, 20, 24, 24, 26)

Bind off.

Sew back shoulders to front panel shoulders.  Sew sleeve caps to body arm openings. Sew body sides and sleeves.

For Neck Band:

With 3mm needles and with RS facing you, pick up 96, 108, 118, 128, 138, 148, 157 stitches around neck on size 3mm needles.

Work 13, 13, 13, 13, 15, 15, 15 rows of 2×2 rib.  

Bind off.

Button Hole Band:  

With 3.25mm needles and the RS facing you, pick up and knit 161, 163, 167, 169, 169, 173, 175 stitches again.  

Starting with a purl, row work 3 rows of stockinette.

On next row knit 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches.  *Bind off next 3 stitches for the first of 7 button holes.  Knit 22, 22, 23, 23, 23, 24, 24 stitches*. Repeat from *to* until the last of the button hole is bound off.  Knit last 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches.

On next row purl 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches.  *Cast on 3 stitches for the first of 7 button holes.  Purl 22, 22, 23, 23, 23, 24, 24 stitches*. Repeat from *to* until the last of the button hole is cast back on.  Purl last 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches.

Work 4 more rows of stockinette.

Purl the next 2 rows.  This creates a purl ridge as a turning row on the right side of fabric.

Work the next 3 rows in stockinette.  

On next row purl 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5  stitches. *Bind off next 3 stitches for the first of 7 button holes.  Purl 22, 22, 23, 23, 23, 24, 24 stitches*. Repeat from *to* until the last of the button hole is bound off.  Purl last 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches.

On next row knit 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches.  *Cast on 3 stitches for the first of 7 button holes.  Knit 22, 22, 23, 23, 23, 24, 24 stitches*. Repeat from *to* until the last of the button holes has been cast back on.  Knit last 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5 stitches.

Knit 4 more rows of stockinette.

Bind off.  

Sew edge to the inside of garment, close sides of band, and sew around each button hole.

Button Band:

On other side of garment, with 3mm needles and RS facing you, pick up 161, 163, 167, 169, 169, 173, 175 stitches.  

Work 9 rows in stockinette.

Purl the next 2 rows.

Work 9 more rows in stockinette to create the inside of the button flap.  

Bind off.  

Sew edge to the inside of garment and sew sides of band closed.