Jacket in Schachenmayr Sun City - 5382 - Downloadable PDF

Knitted Cable Jacket in Schachenmayr Sun City – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern

This pattern provides instructions for knitting a classic cable-panel jacket using Schachenmayr Sun City yarn, an aran-weight yarn well suited to structured stitch work. The design features an elegant arrangement of cable columns and reverse stockinette panels across the back, fronts, and sleeves, making it a rewarding project for knitters with intermediate to advanced experience. The pattern is available as a free downloadable PDF.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a knitted jacket constructed in separate pieces — a back panel, a right front, a left front, and two sleeves — which are seamed together on completion. The jacket features a shaped neckline, armhole shaping, and shoulder cast-offs, giving it a tailored, structured silhouette. Multiple sizes are included in the pattern, with stitch counts varying to accommodate different chest measurements, beginning with size 80/86 as the smallest option referenced in the PDF.

Yarn and Materials

The specified yarn is Schachenmayr Sun City, an aran-weight yarn. This weight category — sometimes called medium-heavy or worsted-to-aran — produces a fabric with good stitch definition, which is particularly important when working cable patterns, as the raised twists and crossings need to stand out clearly against the background fabric. Knitters will also require a cable needle (referred to in the pattern as a Hilfsnadel, or auxiliary needle) for working the cable crossings. Standard knitting needles appropriate for aran-weight yarn are used throughout.

Tension and Gauge

The pattern specifies two distinct tension swatches, reflecting the different stitch patterns used across the jacket:

• Reverse stockinette (glatt links): 21 stitches and 26 rows/rounds = 10 × 10 cm
• Cable pattern: 27 stitches and 26 rows/rounds = 10 × 10 cm

The tighter gauge in the cable sections — more stitches per 10 cm — is entirely typical, as cable crossings draw the fabric inward horizontally. Knitters are strongly advised to work both swatches before beginning, as using the wrong needle size will affect the finished dimensions significantly.

Stitches and Techniques Used

The jacket combines several stitch patterns worked simultaneously across each piece:

• Reverse stockinette (glatt links): Knit on wrong-side rows, purl on right-side rows, forming the smooth background panels between the cable columns
• Stockinette (glatt rechts): Used within cable panels — knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows — to form the raised cable ropes
• Zopf A (Cable A): A 19-stitch cable panel, worked twice across the back, forming the dominant decorative columns
• Zopf B (Cable B): A 4-stitch cable panel, worked as a narrower accent cable between the two main cable columns on the back
• Zopf C (Cable C): A 4-stitch cable used on the right front piece and the left sleeve half; the crossing is worked by placing 2 stitches on a cable needle held behind the work, knitting the next 2 stitches, then knitting the held stitches — creating a right-leaning cable cross. This crossing begins on the 3rd row and is then repeated every 4th row.
• Rib stitch (alternating knit and purl): Used on the first wrong-side row of the back piece as a foundation row before establishing the main stitch patterns
• Edge stitches (Randmaschen): Selvedge stitches are maintained at each side of every piece to facilitate neat seaming

Construction and Shaping

The back piece is cast on with 80, 88, or 96 stitches depending on size. The stitch layout across the back is carefully structured: edge stitches frame the panel, followed by a section of reverse stockinette, then Zopf A, a reverse stockinette bridge, Zopf B at the centre, another reverse stockinette bridge