Loretta Cardigan in Adriafil Duo Comfort - Downloadable PDF

Loretta Cardigan in Adriafil Duo Comfort – Free Knitting Pattern (Downloadable PDF)

The Loretta Cardigan is a beautifully textured women's cardigan knitting pattern designed for use with Adriafil Duo yarn. Available as a free downloadable PDF, this pattern combines classic ribbing with decorative bobble details and a delicate crochet edging finish, resulting in a garment that is both elegant and richly tactile. The design is worked in aran weight yarn and is sized for a size 42, making it a satisfying project for knitters with some experience under their belt.

What Is Being Made

The Loretta Cardigan is a structured, fitted women's cardigan featuring shaped panels, a ribbed body, bobble texture detailing, and a crocheted trim finish. The garment is fastened with 5 metal hooks, giving it a neat, polished closure. The combination of knitted body sections and crochet finishing makes this a wonderfully versatile pattern that draws on skills from both crafts.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Adriafil Duo yarn in pink, shade no. 61 – 300 g total required
• Knitting needles: size no. 4
• Crochet hook: size no. 3
• 5 metal hooks for fastening
• Tapestry needle for seaming and finishing

Adriafil Duo yarn is an aran weight yarn, well-suited to structured garments that benefit from good stitch definition. Its weight and composition make it ideal for the dense ribbing and bobble textures featured throughout this cardigan design.

Knitting Techniques and Stitches Used

This pattern incorporates a rich variety of knitting stitches and techniques, giving the finished cardigan its distinctive layered texture and professional finish. Knitters will work across several stitch patterns throughout the construction of the garment:

• Elastic rib: Used at the start and finish of sections to create neat, stretchy borders that frame the garment cleanly.
• k2/p2 rib stitch: The primary body stitch of the cardigan, worked over the majority of the back and front panels. This classic two-by-two rib creates a structured, slightly elasticated fabric with excellent vertical definition. The gauge for this stitch is 31 stitches and 30 rows per 10 x 10 cm on size no. 4 needles.
• Knit stitch: Used in specific sections of the pattern, with a gauge of 24 stitches and 28 rows per 10 x 10 cm on size no. 4 needles. This stitch creates a smoother, flatter fabric in contrast to the ribbed areas.
• Bobble stitch: A decorative raised texture stitch that adds visual interest and dimension. The bobble is worked by knitting into the same stitch multiple times with yarn overs to create 5 stitches, turning the work and purling those 5 stitches, then turning again and knitting all 5 together to form a compact, rounded bobble on the right side of the fabric. This technique is a hallmark of classic knitwear design and adds a handcrafted, artisan quality to the Loretta Cardigan.

Shaping and Construction

The back panel is cast on with 118 stitches and begins with a border of 4 rows in elastic rib, followed by 58 rows in k2/p2 rib stitch, totalling approximately 20 cm in length. Shaping is introduced from the third row after the elastic rib border, with decreases worked at both ends inside 30 stitches — 1 stitch decreased every row, 20 times — to create the fitted silhouette characteristic of this design. Right-hand decreases are worked as k2tog, giving clean, directional shaping lines.

Crochet Finishing Techniques

In addition to the knitting, the Loretta