Ladies Jackets in King Cole Drifter Chunky - 4597 - Downloadable PDF

Ladies Jackets Knitted in King Cole Drifter Chunky – Pattern 4597

Pattern 4597 from King Cole is a knitting pattern for ladies jackets worked in King Cole Drifter Chunky yarn. The pattern covers a wide range of sizes, from 81/86 cm (32/34 in) through to 122/127 cm (48/50 in), making it an inclusive and versatile choice for knitters of varying body shapes. It is rated as an intermediate difficulty level, making it well suited to knitters who are comfortable with basic shaping techniques and are ready to tackle more structured garment construction.

Purchasing this pattern also contributes to a good cause — King Cole donates to the Pink Ribbon Foundation for every pattern sold.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces ladies jackets — classic, cosy outerwear garments designed to be knitted in a chunky weight yarn for a warm, textured finish. The use of King Cole Drifter Chunky gives the finished jackets a distinctive, softly variegated appearance, as this yarn is known for its gently blending tonal colour runs that create subtle, naturally shifting colour effects without the need for complex colourwork techniques. The result is a stylish, contemporary jacket with visual interest built directly into the yarn itself.

Construction and Shaping Techniques

The jackets are constructed using traditional raglan shaping, a classic garment-making technique in which the sleeves and body are joined and shaped simultaneously along diagonal seam lines that run from the underarm to the neckline. Raglan construction is popular in knitwear because it creates a comfortable, flexible fit across the shoulders and upper body without the need for a set-in sleeve. The pattern includes clear instructions for casting off and decreasing stitches to form the raglan shaping, with specific stitch counts given for each size.

Key construction techniques referenced in the pattern include:

• Raglan shaping — worked across both the body pieces and the sleeves to create the characteristic diagonal shoulder line
• Increasing — used to shape the sleeves and body as the garment is built up
• Decreasing
— employed throughout the raglan shaping sections to reduce stitch counts in a controlled manner
• Casting off — used at underarms and other shaping points to begin the raglan sections
• Slipping stitches — referenced via the abbreviation s1 (slip 1 stitch knitways), often used in conjunction with decrease methods such as psso (pass slipped stitch over) to create neat, directional decreases
• Working in pattern — the pattern uses the abbreviation patt, indicating that knitters follow an established stitch pattern consistently across rows

Stitches Used

The primary stitch fabric used throughout the jackets is stocking stitch (also written as stockinette stitch), which is the most widely used knitting stitch and is formed by alternating knit rows on the right side with purl rows on the wrong side. Stocking stitch creates a smooth, flat fabric on the right side, which works beautifully with the colour-blending properties of King Cole Drifter Chunky, allowing the tonal shifts in the yarn to show clearly without being obscured by a textured stitch pattern.

Stitches and techniques referenced in the pattern abbreviations include:

• Knit (k) — the foundational stitch used on right side rows in stocking stitch
• Purl (p) — worked on wrong side rows to complete the stocking stitch fabric
• Slip 1 knitways (s1) — a technique used to move a stitch from the left needle to the right without working it, typically as part of a decrease
• Pass slipped stitch over (psso) — used in combination with a slip stitch to form a left-leaning decrease, commonly seen in raglan and other decorative shaping
• Knitting two stitches together (tog) — a standard right-leaning decrease used in shaping
• Alternating rows (alt) — sh