Cleo Cardigan - Knitting Pattern for Women in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

Cleo Cardigan – Knitting Pattern for Women in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

The Cleo Cardigan is a women's knitting pattern designed by Debbie Bliss, worked in the beloved Baby Cashmerino yarn. This is a downloadable PDF pattern written in UK terminology with US terminology provided in brackets throughout, making it accessible to knitters on both sides of the Atlantic. Rated as an intermediate difficulty project, the Cleo Cardigan is an excellent choice for knitters who are comfortable with core techniques and ready to refine their skills with more structured shaping and finishing details.

What Is Being Made

The Cleo Cardigan is a classic women's cardigan — a front-opening knitted jacket with button fastenings. Cardigans of this style are wardrobe staples, offering layering versatility and timeless appeal. The finished garment is designed to be a polished, wearable piece suitable for everyday wear.

Construction Method

This cardigan is constructed using a bottom-up, seamless approach, meaning knitting begins at the lower edge and works upward toward the shoulders. The seamless construction method eliminates or greatly reduces the need for sewing pieces together at the end, resulting in a cleaner finish and a more enjoyable knitting experience. This technique is particularly popular among intermediate knitters who want a professional result without extensive seaming.

Techniques Used

• Bottom-up construction: The garment is built from the cast-on edge upward, following the natural shape of the body.
• Seamless knitting: Reduces finishing work and creates smooth, uninterrupted fabric.
• Buttonhole creation: The pattern includes instructions for working neat, functional buttonholes along the front band, a key skill for cardigan knitting.
• Button band finishing: Buttons are incorporated as a design and functional element, requiring careful placement and attachment.
• Casting on and casting off (binding off): The pattern uses standard cast-on and cast-off methods, including casting off in ribbing to maintain pattern integrity at edges.
• Increasing and decreasing: Shaping throughout the body and sleeves is achieved using techniques such as kfb (knit into front and back), pfb (purl into front and back), m1 (make one), skpo (slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over), and k2tog (knit two together).
• Pick up and knit / pick up and purl: Used to create neat, integrated edgings and bands directly from the knitted fabric.

Stitches Used

• Moss stitch (seed stitch): A classic textured stitch created by alternating knit and purl stitches across rows. It lies flat and does not curl, making it ideal for borders, button bands, and decorative panels. The pattern provides instructions for working moss stitch over both odd and even stitch counts.
• Garter stitch: Formed by knitting every row, producing a ridged, reversible fabric often used for edgings and borders.
• Ribbing: A stretchy, structured stitch pattern used at hems, cuffs, and necklines, worked by alternating knit and purl stitches in columns. The pattern references casting off in ribbing to preserve elasticity.
• Standard knit and purl stitches form the foundation of the garment's main fabric sections.

Materials – Yarn and Needles

The Cleo Cardigan is designed specifically for Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, a sport weight yarn celebrated for its luxuriously soft blend of merino wool, microfibre, and cashmere. This yarn is lightweight yet warm, with excellent stitch definition that beautifully showcases textured stitches such as moss stitch. Its fine weight and smooth finish make it well suited to a fitted or semi-fitted cardigan silhouette. Knitters should refer to the pattern PDF for specific needle size recommendations, gauge information, and total yardage requirements. Buttons are also required as listed in the pattern materials section.

Who This Pattern Is For

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