Damenjacke in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85 - 2097 - Downloadable PDF

Damenjacke in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85 – Knitting Pattern Summary (PDF 2097)

This free downloadable knitting pattern from Schachenmayr provides instructions for a beautiful women's jacket (Damenjacke) knitted in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85 yarn. The design is available in five sizes: 32/34, 36/38, 40/42, 44/46, and a fifth larger size, making it accessible to a wide range of knitters. The jacket features an elegant combination of textured stitch patterns, including a striking cable panel, making it a rewarding intermediate-to-advanced knitting project.

What Is Being Made

The pattern instructs knitters to create a women's jacket with a decorative volant (ruffle or flounce) detail. The back and front pieces are worked in one piece, which reduces seaming and creates a more seamless, polished finish. The generous stitch counts at the cast-on stage — ranging from 378 to 558 stitches depending on size — reflect the volant's full, sweeping character before the fabric is shaped into the body of the jacket.

Techniques Used

• Working in one piece: The back and front sections are knitted together as a single unit, a technique that minimises finishing work and ensures consistent tension across the garment.
• Cable knitting with auxiliary needles (Hilfsnadeln): The pattern uses two cable needles simultaneously to create complex crossing stitches. Stitches are held to the front and back of the work alternately, producing a richly textured cable panel.
• Rib knitting (Rippenmuster): A rib stitch pattern is used in sections of the jacket, providing elasticity and a neat, structured edge.
• Volant construction: A large number of stitches are cast on initially to form the decorative ruffle, which is then reduced as the knitting progresses upward into the main body of the jacket.
• Stitch pattern repetition: The cable pattern repeats over a 24-row sequence, with rows 1 through 24 repeated throughout the cable panel sections.

Stitches Used

• Rechts (knit stitches) and links (purl stitches) – the fundamental building blocks used throughout all stitch patterns.
• Rippenmuster (rib pattern): Worked on 4 mm needles, measured slightly stretched in width; gauge is approximately 22 stitches and 28 rows = 10 cm × 10 cm.
• Großes Perlmuster (large seed/moss stitch pattern): Worked on 5–6 mm needles; gauge is approximately 15 stitches and 26–27 rows = 10 cm × 10 cm.
• Zopfmuster (cable pattern): A 21-stitch cable panel approximately 6 cm wide, featuring complex double-cable crossings worked over a 24-row repeat. Cables cross at rows 1 and 23, with the intervening rows worked as the stitches appear.
• Cable crossings: Groups of 5 stitches are placed on auxiliary needles and held either in front of or behind the work, then knitted in a specific order to create the characteristic twisted rope effect of the cable.

Cable Pattern Detail

The cable stitch pattern is a key design feature of this jacket. On the first crossing row, five stitches are placed on a first auxiliary needle held to the front, five further stitches are placed on a second auxiliary needle held to the back, and the next five stitches are knitted first. The stitches from the first and second auxiliary needles are then knitted in sequence, creating a layered, interlocking cable. On row 23, the process is reversed — the first auxiliary needle goes behind and the second goes in front — producing a mirrored crossing that gives the cable its symmetrical, braided appearance. Rows 12 through 22 and row 24 are worked plain, following the established stitch pattern as it appears.