Top and Cardigan Knitted in King Cole Cottonsoft DK - 5761 - Downloadable PDF

King Cole Cottonsoft DK Pattern 5761 – Knitted Top and Cardigan Summary

Pattern 5761 from King Cole is a downloadable PDF knitting pattern offering two garments: a knitted top and a knitted cardigan, both worked in King Cole Cottonsoft DK yarn. The pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty and is designed to fit a wide range of sizes, accommodating bust measurements from 81 cm to 127 cm (32 to 50 inches), making it an inclusive and versatile design suitable for a broad range of knitters.

Yarn and Materials

Both garments are knitted in King Cole Cottonsoft DK, a double knitting weight yarn. As the name suggests, this is a cotton-rich yarn known for its soft handle and clean stitch definition, making it well suited to garments that feature textural pattern details. DK weight yarn is one of the most popular yarn weights for garment knitting, offering a good balance between speed of knitting and fine fabric drape. Knitters will require appropriate knitting needles in the sizes specified within the full pattern instructions.

The Cardigan

Design Overview

The cardigan is an open-front style featuring front borders worked separately and sewn into place. It includes a right front border and a left front border, both worked in rib stitch and designed to be slightly stretched along the front edges before being cast off and attached. The borders meet at the back of the neck, with cast-off edges joined at the centre back neck, creating a neat and professional finish.

Construction Method

The cardigan is constructed in separate pieces and then sewn together. Key construction steps include:

• Joining shoulder seams before attaching the front borders
• Folding sleeves in half lengthways and placing the fold point to the shoulder seam before sewing into position at markers
• Joining side seams and sleeve seams after the sleeves are set in
• Pinning the finished garment out to the actual measurements and leaving to set, which is standard blocking practice for cotton yarns

Sleeves

The sleeves are worked with sleeve shaping that includes increases along both edges. Stitches are increased at each end of a specified row and then on every following 5th or 6th row depending on the size being worked, with increased stitches incorporated into reverse stocking stitch. The sleeve length works to approximately 43 to 48 cm before the sleeve top shaping begins. The sleeve top is shaped by casting off stitches at the beginning of four consecutive rows, leaving a small number of stitches that are then cast off to complete the cap.

Techniques and Stitches Used

The cardigan makes use of a combination of classic and textural knitting techniques, including:

• Reverse stocking stitch (rev st-st) – used as the main background fabric, giving a purl-side texture to the right side of the work
• Cable panels – a prominent feature of the design, with 4-stitch cables worked across the fabric using cable techniques C4B (cable 4 back) and C4F (cable 4 front), creating classic rope-style twisted columns
• Twist stitches – including T3F (twist 3 front) and T3B (twist 3 back), which are used to move stitches diagonally across the fabric, adding movement and detail to the cable panels
• Rib stitch – used for the front borders, worked in a knit 1, purl 1 rib pattern and cast off in rib for a neat, stretchy edge
• Stocking stitch – referenced within the pattern construction
• Increasing – worked using the inc in next st method (knitting into the front and back of a stitch) to shape the sleeves

Cable and Pattern Panel Detail