Elvira Cardigan in Adriafil Memphis - Downloadable PDF

Elvira Cardigan in Adriafil Memphis – Free Knitting Pattern Summary

The Elvira Cardigan is a beautifully textured women's knitted cardigan designed to be worked in Adriafil Memphis yarn. This free downloadable PDF pattern produces a richly detailed, panel-based cardigan featuring an impressive combination of stitch patterns, making it an excellent project for intermediate to experienced knitters who enjoy working cables and textured rib constructions. The finished garment is a classic, structured cardigan with button fastening, sized to fit sizes 40, 42, and 44.

What Is Being Made

This pattern instructs knitters on how to construct a full women's cardigan with a textured front and back, worked in separate pieces and seamed together. The cardigan features a ribbed lower border, an all-over panel design across the body combining cables and English rib sections, and a button band closure with six matching buttons. The design has a substantial, cosy feel suited to cooler weather, with the rich stitch patterning giving the fabric excellent visual depth and structure.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Adriafil Memphis in dark yellow, shade no. 38 – 500 g total required
• Knitting needles: Size 4.5 mm (no. 4½) standard knitting needles
• Two-tip knitting needle (double-pointed or cable needle) for working cable crossings
• Tapestry needle for seaming and finishing
• 6 matching buttons for the front button band closure

Adriafil Memphis is a worsted weight yarn, which gives this cardigan its warm, substantial drape and makes the cable and rib stitch textures stand out beautifully. The worsted weight also means the project works up at a satisfying pace on 4.5 mm needles.

Tension and Gauge

The pattern specifies a gauge of 32 stitches and 31 rows to 10 x 10 cm worked across the various stitch patterns on 4.5 mm needles. Because the fabric combines multiple stitch types, swatching across the different pattern stitches is particularly important to ensure accurate sizing across all three sizes.

Techniques Used

• Casting on and setting up multiple stitch pattern panels simultaneously
• Cable crossings – both small and large cable twists worked leftwise using an auxiliary or cable needle
• Rib knitting – including elastic rib, k1/p1 rib, and the more complex English rib technique
• Panel knitting – maintaining multiple distinct stitch pattern sections across a single row
• Increasing stitches at the transition from the ribbed border into the main body pattern
• Seaming and finishing using a tapestry needle
• Button band construction for the front opening

Stitches Used

• Elastic rib – used for the cast-on border rows to create a neat, stretchy edge
• K1/P1 rib stitch – worked for 28 rows as the main lower border, totalling approximately 10 cm in length
• Garter stitch – incorporated as a structural and decorative element
• Knit stitch – used for edge stitches and selvedges throughout the body
• English rib – a distinctive textured rib worked over an odd number of stitches, creating a raised, double-stitch effect. Row 1 works alternating double stitches (knitted into the stitch one row below) with knit stitches; Row 2 reverses the sequence. This stitch adds a plush, deeply ridged texture between the cable panels.
• Small cable – worked over 6 stitches. Plain knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows, with a leftwise cable cross on Row 5