259 Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan - Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns 2/10 Merino Tencel

Pattern #259 Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan – Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns 2/10 Merino Tencel

The Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan is a beautifully constructed women's knitting pattern designed by Kirsten Hipsky, worked in the luxurious Valley Yarns Colrain Lace yarn. This intermediate-level pattern produces a sophisticated, feminine cardigan featuring a distinctive double-layered construction — an under layer worked in an intricate lace pattern and an over layer worked in a clean stockinette-based fabric, which are then ingeniously joined together to create a layered, dimensional effect reminiscent of a hanging garden. The result is a garment with wonderful visual depth and a draping, elegant silhouette.

What Is Being Made

This downloadable PDF pattern instructs knitters in creating a women's layered cardigan with finished bust sizes of 33 (36.5, 40, 43, 46.5) inches, offering five size options to suit a range of figures. The cardigan features a structured body and set-in or drop sleeves, all worked flat in separate pieces and then seamed together for a polished, tailored finish. The layered design is central to the garment's character: a lace under layer peeks through and beneath a shorter over layer, creating a cascading, garden-inspired aesthetic.

Construction and Techniques

The Hanging Garden Layered Cardigan is worked using a bottom-up, seamed, flat construction method. Each major section — the body and the sleeves — is knitted in two distinct layers that are later united in a clever joining row. Key construction techniques include:

• Bottom-up construction: The body and sleeves each begin at the lower edge and are worked upward, giving knitters a traditional and familiar workflow.
• Worked flat: All pieces are knitted back and forth on straight or circular needles, producing flat fabric panels that are subsequently seamed.
• Seamed finishing: Individual pieces are joined using seaming techniques, lending the finished cardigan a structured, professional shape.
• Double-layer joining: A signature technique in this pattern involves placing the under layer stitches on hold, working the over layer separately, and then knitting each stitch of the over layer together with a corresponding stitch from the under layer in a single joining row — elegantly uniting both layers into one cohesive fabric.
• Lace patterning: The under layer of both the body and sleeves is worked in a repeating 12-row lace pattern, adding delicate openwork texture that remains visible beneath the over layer.

Stitches Used

This pattern draws on a range of knitting stitches and techniques suited to an intermediate-level knitter. Familiarity with the following is recommended:

• Lace pattern stitches: The under layer is worked in a structured lace repeat spanning 12 rows, likely incorporating yarn overs and decreases to create the openwork motif.
• Yarn over (yo): Used to create decorative eyelets in the lace sections and referenced explicitly in the over layer transition rows.
• K2tog (knit two together): A right-leaning decrease used in the lace pattern and in the eyelet row of the over layer.
• Stockinette stitch: The over layer body is worked in a modified stockinette with garter selvedge edges — knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows, with two knit stitches maintained at each edge (K2, purl to last 2 sts, K2).
• Garter stitch: Used at the cast-on edges and in transitional rows to provide stability and a neat finish.
• Joining row technique: Knitting stitches from two layers together simultaneously — a practical and satisfying construction stitch unique to this layered design.

Body – Under Layer

The body under layer is cast on with 205 (225, 245, 265, 285) stitches and begins with 2 knit rows before transitioning into the 12-row lace pattern. This section is worked for 12 inches, ending after a Row 12 of the lace repeat. The live stitches are then placed on a spare circular needle or scrap yarn