Sweater and Cardigan in King Cole Cotton Socks 4ply - 5879 - Downloadable PDF

King Cole Cotton Socks 4ply Pattern 5879 – Sweater and Cardigan Knitting Pattern Summary

Overview

Pattern 5879 from King Cole is a downloadable PDF knitting pattern featuring two classic children's garments: a sweater and a cardigan, both knitted in King Cole Cotton Socks 4ply yarn. The designs are sized to fit chest measurements of 51–76 cm (21–30 inches), making them suitable for babies and young children across a range of ages. This is an intermediate-level knitting pattern, offering a satisfying challenge for knitters who are comfortable with basic techniques and ready to explore more textured and colourwork elements. Purchasing this pattern also contributes a donation to the Pink Ribbon Foundation, a cause King Cole actively supports across its pattern range.

Garment One: The Sweater

The sweater is a classic pullover design worked in stocking stitch as its primary fabric. The construction follows a traditional approach, with separate pieces worked flat and then seamed together. A key decorative feature of the sweater is its stripe sequence, which uses a main yarn (M) alongside at least two contrast yarns (A and B) to create colourful horizontal bands across the fabric. This stripe work adds visual interest while keeping the knitting engaging row by row.

A particularly distinctive stitch technique used in the sweater is the K5B stitch — knitting into the fifth stitch below the needle. This involves slipping the next stitch off the left-hand needle, dropping it down four rows, and then inserting the right-hand needle under the loose strands and into the stitch on the fifth row down before knitting it normally, catching all the dropped strands simultaneously. This creates a gathered, textured effect that adds depth and a subtle decorative column to the fabric, often seen in vintage-inspired knitwear.

Garment Two: The Cardigan

The cardigan is a separate design within the same pattern leaflet and features a distinctly different stitch pattern from the sweater. It is worked using a textured pattern stitch that incorporates elements of reversed stocking stitch (purl on the right side, knit on the wrong side), giving the fabric a bumpy, tactile surface. The cardigan pattern also makes use of cable stitches, specifically C2B (cable 2 back) and C2F (cable 2 front) — two-stitch mini cables that twist stitches to the back or front respectively, creating neat rope-like details within the fabric.

The cardigan has its own unique tension requirement, reflecting the denser, more structured nature of its pattern stitch: 26 stitches and 46 rows to 10 cm (4 inches) over the cardigan pattern on 3.25 mm needles. This differs from the sweater's tension of 28 stitches and 36 rows to 10 cm (4 inches) over stocking stitch on the same needle size, so knitters should work separate tension squares for each garment before casting on.

Techniques Used

• Stocking stitch (st-st): The foundation fabric of the sweater — knit on the right side, purl on the wrong side.
• Reversed stocking stitch (rev st-st): Used in the cardigan pattern — purl on the right side, knit on the wrong side, creating a textured surface.
• Garter stitch (gst): Every row knitted, typically used for borders, bands, and edgings to prevent curling.
• Stripe sequence: Colourwork using a main yarn (M) and contrast yarns (A and B) to create horizontal stripes throughout the sweater.
• K5B (knit 5th stitch below): An advanced textural technique that gathers dropped strands to create a decorative, elongated stitch effect.
• C2B and C2F (cable 2 back and cable 2 front): Two-stitch cable crossings that add twisted rope detail to the cardigan fabric.
• Shaping techniques: Including increases (inc), decreases (dec), slip-slip decreases (sl1, K1, psso), and working stitches together (tog) for armhole, neck, and sleeve shaping.