Damenjacke in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 120 - 5427 - Downloadable PDF

Damenjacke in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 120 – Pattern Summary (No. 5427)

This free downloadable PDF knitting pattern from Schachenmayr provides instructions for a women's jacket (Damenjacke) worked in Merino Extrafine 120, a popular DK-weight yarn. The design features structured lace or textured stitch panels combined with smooth stockinette sections, creating an elegant, wearable garment with a shaped back, front panels, and shoulder yoke construction. The pattern is written in German and is suited to knitters with intermediate to advanced experience.

Garment Overview

The pattern constructs a classic women's jacket with the following key structural elements:

• Back panel (Rückenteil): Worked in two halves that mirror each other, with a central stitch (Mittel-M) as the axis of symmetry. Shaping is achieved through decreases worked on both sides of the centre stitch.
• Left front panel (Linkes Vorderteil): Worked separately, beginning with cast-on stitches in Natur (natural/ecru colourway), and following the same charted stitch pattern as the back.
• Shoulder yokes (Schulterpassen): Stitches are newly cast on at both sides after a set number of rows to form the shoulder sections, which are then worked in the main pattern.
• Back neckline (rückwärtiger Halsausschnittrand): Remaining stitches are cast off to shape the rear neck edge after the full row count is reached.

Construction and Shaping Techniques

The jacket is constructed using a combination of flat knitting and symmetrical shaping. Key construction techniques include:

• Central stitch mirroring: The right back half is fully charted; the left back half is worked as a mirror image (gegengleich), with only the first 22 stitches after the centre stitch shown. This is a common technique in German knitting patterns to keep charts concise.
• Gradual decreasing: Over 80 rows, a total of 74 stitches are decreased, reducing the stitch count to 111 stitches on the needle. This creates the shaped silhouette of the back.
• Additional decreases: A further 22 stitches are decreased on each side of the centre stitch over 90 rows (approximately 30 cm measured in the direction of knitting).
• Shoulder cast-on: After 90 rows, 26 stitches are newly cast on on each side to form the shoulder yoke sections, which are then integrated into the main pattern.
• Cast-off for neckline: After a total of 122 rows (approximately 40.5 cm), the remaining 119 stitches are cast off to complete the back neckline edge.
• Edge stitches (Randmaschen): Selvedge stitches are maintained throughout for neat finishing and seaming.

Stitch Patterns Used

The pattern references two distinct charted stitch patterns, each serving a different structural role in the jacket:

• Strickschrift A (Chart A): The primary decorative pattern, worked over a 26-stitch repeat between marked arrows (Pfeil A–B and Pfeil C–D on the chart). This repeat is worked multiple times across the row — twice on the back between arrows A and B, and three times between arrows C and D — with additional edge stitches worked outside the repeat. Chart A is used for the main body shaping section.
• Strickschrift B (Chart B): Introduced after the initial 80 rows of Chart A are complete, this chart continues the pattern for the upper body and shoulder sections.
• Glatt links (reverse stockinette / purl stitch panels): Sections of glatt links (smooth purl fabric, which appears as reverse stockinette on the right side) are incorporated as part of the stitch layout, providing contrast against the textured pattern repeats.
• Grundmuster (main/base pattern)