Ashberry Cardigan in West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley Aran Fusions - Downloadable PDF

Ashberry Cardigan by Jo Allport in West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley Aran Fusions – Knitting Pattern Summary

About This Pattern

The Ashberry Cardigan is a beautifully crafted knitting pattern designed by Jo Allport and published as part of the West Yorkshire Spinners Fusions Collection. Described as a modern interpretation of classic Scandinavian yoke designs, this cardigan features a striking textured trellis lace construction that gives it an elegant, timeless appeal. It is presented as a downloadable PDF, making it immediately accessible for knitters who are ready to cast on straight away. The pattern is rated as intermediate in skill level, making it an ideal project for knitters who are comfortable with basic techniques and ready to explore more intricate stitch patterns.

Design Overview

The Ashberry Cardigan is a yoke-style cardigan that draws inspiration from traditional Scandinavian knitwear while bringing a thoroughly contemporary sensibility to the finished garment. One of the most appealing features of this design is how the West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley Aran Fusions yarn does much of the decorative work for you — its built-in colour changes create a naturally variegated effect throughout the fabric, adding visual interest without the need for complex colour-work techniques such as stranded knitting or intarsia. The result is a cardigan that looks intricate and considered but is achievable by a confident intermediate knitter.

The trellis lace detailing gives the fabric an open, airy quality that contrasts beautifully with the denser moss stitch sections, creating a garment with real textural depth. This is a wardrobe essential piece — versatile enough to be dressed up or worn casually, and substantial enough in its construction to provide warmth thanks to the aran weight yarn.

Techniques Used

• Yoke construction – inspired by classic Scandinavian yoke shaping traditions, giving the garment its characteristic fitted upper body and elegant silhouette
• Trellis lace – an intermediate lace technique that creates an open, geometric lattice effect across the fabric, typically worked through a combination of yarn-overs and decreases on right-side rows
• Moss stitch – a classic textured knitting stitch alternating knit and purl stitches in a specific sequence to create a firm, non-curling fabric with a subtle pebbly texture; used here as a contrast to the lace sections and also as the basis for tension measurement
• Shaping – standard garment shaping techniques are employed to achieve the fitted bust and length measurements across a wide range of sizes

Stitches Used

• Knit (K) – the foundational knitting stitch used throughout
• Purl (P) – used in combination with knit stitches to build texture and structure
• Moss Stitch – a combination of knit and purl stitches worked in an alternating pattern to produce a dense, textured fabric; one of the primary stitch patterns in this design
• Trellis Lace pattern – an openwork stitch pattern forming the decorative centrepiece of the cardigan, typically incorporating yarn-overs and paired decreases to create the characteristic lattice or trellis effect

Sizing and Fit

The Ashberry Cardigan is available in a generous range of sizes, designed to fit bust measurements from 81 cm (32 in) to 127 cm (50 in). The actual bust measurements of the finished garment range from 92 cm (36¼ in) to 142 cm (56 in), providing a comfortable, relaxed fit with positive ease built in across all sizes. The actual length — measured from the back of the neck to the back hemline, excluding the neckband — ranges from 57.5 cm (22½ in) to 64.5 cm (25¾ in) depending on size, giving a classic cardigan length suitable for a wide range of body types and style preferences.

Tension (Gauge)

Achieving the correct tension is essential for this pattern, and two separate tension measurements are given to reflect the different stitch patterns used in the garment:

• 22 stitches and 36 rows to