Blue Sky Fibers Secret Garden Cardigan PDF

Blue Sky Fibers Secret Garden Cardigan PDF – Knitting Pattern by Elinor Brown

The Blue Sky Fibers Secret Garden Cardigan is a beautifully detailed knitting pattern designed by Elinor Brown and published by Blue Sky Fibers (formerly Blue Sky Alpacas). This classic, fitted cardigan features a stunning Fair Isle yoke worked in multiple colors, making it a showpiece project for experienced knitters who want to showcase their colorwork skills. The pattern is rated Advanced and is available as a downloadable PDF.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a bottom-up cardigan with a colorwork yoke worked in the Fair Isle stranded tradition. The body is constructed from the bottom edge upward, and the design culminates in an intricately patterned yoke that uses a main color alongside multiple contrast colors. The cardigan features a front opening finished with button bands, making it a wearable, everyday garment as well as a technical knitting achievement.

Construction Techniques

• Bottom-up construction: The cardigan begins at the hem and is worked upward toward the yoke, a traditional approach that allows for easy length adjustments early in the project.
• Stranded colorwork (Fair Isle): The yoke is worked using the stranded knitting technique, where two or more colors are carried across each row or round. This creates the characteristic dense, warm fabric associated with Fair Isle and Nordic-style knitwear.
• Steeking: One of the most distinctive and advanced techniques in this pattern is the use of a steek — a series of extra stitches (a block of 7 steek stitches) that allow the cardigan front to be knitted in the round and then cut open to create the front opening. Detailed steeking instructions are included in the pattern, covering how to identify steek stitches, how to secure the cut edges, and how to minimize stress on the cut by positioning button bands correctly. A contrast yarn is threaded through steek stitch 1 and steek stitch 7 to mark the boundaries before cutting down the center of stitch 4.
• Worked flat: Portions of the garment are worked flat (back and forth in rows), complementing the in-the-round sections.
• Button band pickup: After steeking, button bands are picked up from beneath the stitches on either side of the steek block, leaving a facing of just under ¾ inch to neatly finish the front edges.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The primary stitch used throughout the body and yoke, creating a smooth fabric that showcases the colorwork pattern clearly.
• M1-L (Make One Left): A left-leaning increase worked by inserting the left needle from front to back into the strand between stitches and knitting into the back of the stitch to twist it.
• M1-R (Make One Right): A right-leaning increase worked by inserting the left needle from back to front into the strand between stitches and knitting into the front of the stitch to twist it.
• SSK (Slip, Slip, Knit): A left-leaning decrease worked by slipping two stitches knitwise one at a time, then inserting the left needle in front of both slipped stitches and knitting them together.
• Purl (P): Used in flat sections and for any ribbing or edging details.

Materials – Yarn, Needles, and Notions

The pattern is written specifically for Blue Sky Sport Weight or Blue Sky Melange yarn, both available from Blue Sky Fibers. These are sport weight yarns sold in 50g/110-yard hanks. The colorwork yoke uses a main color (MC) along with seven contrast colors labeled A, B, C, D, E, F, and G — one hank of each contrast color is required, while the main color requires 7 to 13 hanks depending on the size being knitted.

• Primary needles: Size 5 (3.75mm) circular needles, 24 inches or longer, and Size 5 (3.75mm) double-pointed needles