Brunnea - Cardigan Knitting Pattern For Women in Tahki Yarns Hatteras by Tahki Yarns

Brunnea Cardigan Knitting Pattern for Women – Designed by Tian Foley for Tahki Yarns

The Brunnea Cardigan is a beautifully structured women's knitting pattern designed by Tian Foley and published by Tahki Yarns. Worked in the brand's signature Hatteras yarn, this intermediate-level pattern produces a relaxed yet refined open-front or button-up cardigan with elegant lace detailing. The name Brunnea evokes a warm, earthy aesthetic that pairs naturally with the organic cotton yarn used throughout the design.

What You Will Make

Knitters who work this pattern will create a women's cardigan available in four sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and XL. The finished bust measurements range from 37 inches (94 cm) for Small up to 53 inches (134.5 cm) for XL, making this pattern accessible to a wide range of body types. Finished lengths range from 19½ inches (49.5 cm) to 22½ inches (57 cm) depending on the chosen size. The garment is designed with a flattering silhouette that incorporates both classic stockinette and decorative lace panels, giving it visual interest without overwhelming complexity.

Construction and Techniques

The Brunnea cardigan is constructed using a bottom-up, seamed, worked-flat method. This traditional approach means knitters begin at the lower edges of the garment pieces and work upward toward the shoulders. Working flat on circular needles produces separate front and back panels that are later joined, giving the finished cardigan clean, structured seams and a polished, professional appearance.

• Bottom-up construction: Each garment section begins at the cast-on edge and is worked upward, allowing knitters to easily adjust length before committing to armhole and shoulder shaping.
• Seamed finishing: The individual pieces are sewn together after knitting, a technique that adds structure and durability to the finished cardigan. Seaming also helps heavier yarns like chunky-weight cotton maintain their shape over time.
• Worked flat: Knitting back and forth in rows rather than in the round means knitters alternate right-side and wrong-side rows, which is especially important when working the lace pattern to maintain stitch alignment.
• Short-rows: The pattern incorporates short-row shaping, a technique used to add subtle contour and dimension to specific sections of the garment without adding or removing stitches in a conventional way.
• Three-Needle Bind-Off: This technique is used to join shoulder seams neatly and seamlessly from the right side, creating a tidy, reinforced join that lies flat and looks polished.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The Brunnea cardigan uses a combination of foundational and decorative stitch patterns that work together to create textural contrast across the garment's surface.

• Stockinette stitch: The primary fabric of the cardigan is worked in classic stockinette — knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows. Gauge is set at 13 stitches and 21 rows to 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch.
• Lace pattern: Decorative lace panels are integrated into the design, adding an airy, feminine quality. The lace gauge is 12 stitches and 21 rows to 4 inches (10 cm), slightly different from the stockinette gauge, which is important to note when checking tension. Lace knitting typically involves yarn-over increases paired with corresponding decreases to create open, decorative eyelets within the fabric.
• Side shaping with decreases: The pattern uses ssk (slip, slip, knit) and k2tog (knit two together) decreases flanking stitch markers to shape the sides of the garment, creating a tailored silhouette through a structured decrease row worked on right-side rows.
• Garter selvedge stitches: Edge stitches are worked in garter stitch (knit on both right-side and wrong-side rows) to create tidy, stable borders along the fronts and other edges of the cardigan.

Materials – Yarn, Needles