Balance Cardigan in Rowan Cotton Revive - Downloadable PDF

Balance Cardigan in Rowan Cotton Revive – Knitting Pattern Summary

The Balance Cardigan is a beautifully structured knitted cardigan designed by Chloe Thurlow and published by Rowan. Available as a downloadable PDF, this pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty and is worked in Rowan Cotton Revive, a sport-weight yarn. The design features an elegant textured stitch pattern that runs throughout the body, giving the finished garment a refined, tactile quality that makes it a standout wardrobe piece.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a classic open-front cardigan with structured shaping across the back, left front, right front, and sleeves. The garment is photographed in Ocean 008, a colourway from the Rowan Cotton Revive yarn range. It is designed to fit a wide range of chest sizes, from 71–76 cm (28–30 in) up to 152–157 cm (60–62 in), with actual garment chest measurements ranging from 86.5 cm (34 in) to 168 cm (66¼ in), making it an inclusive and versatile pattern suitable for many body types.

Construction and Structure

The cardigan is worked in separate pieces — back, left front, right front, and sleeves — which are then seamed together. Each section is shaped individually, with armhole shaping and neck shaping worked using decreases and cast-offs at specific intervals. The neck shaping is worked on each side separately, with decreases at the neck edge and stepped cast-offs to create a smooth, tailored neckline. The pattern instructs knitters to work each side of the neck independently, ensuring symmetrical results.

Techniques Used

• Cable knitting – The pattern makes extensive use of cable techniques to create the signature textured design. Two key special abbreviations are central to this: Tw2L (Twist 2 Left) and Tw2R (Twist 2 Right), both worked using a cable needle.
• Tw2L involves slipping the next stitch onto a cable needle and leaving it at the front of the work, purling one stitch, then knitting the held stitch from the cable needle.
• Tw2R is the mirror image, worked by leaving the held stitch at the back of the work before completing the twist.
• Chart reading – Knitters follow a dedicated left front chart (and corresponding charts for other sections), repeating an 18-stitch pattern repeat across rows and a 20-row pattern repeat vertically throughout the fabric.
• Shaping techniques – Armhole and neck shaping are achieved through a combination of cast-offs at the beginning of rows and single stitch decreases worked at edges over multiple rows.
• Seaming – As a pieced construction, the cardigan requires joining of finished sections.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (K) – Used throughout as the foundation of the fabric and within the textured pattern.
• Purl stitch (P) – Worked in combination with knit stitches to create the relief texture of the pattern.
• Tw2L and Tw2R (cable twists) – The defining stitches of the pattern, creating the characteristic twisted and crossed lines of the Balance design.
• Rib or seed-style edging – The cast-on rows begin with a combination of knit and purl stitches in a structured sequence (K1, P1, K2, P1 arrangements), suggesting a textured border or band at the lower edges.

Materials Required

The pattern calls for Rowan Cotton Revive, a sport-weight yarn sold in 100 g balls. The quantity required ranges from 5 balls for the smallest size up to 10 balls for the largest size. Rowan Cotton Revive is a sustainable yarn choice, well suited to a structured stitch pattern like this one, offering stitch definition that allows the cable twists