WEBS DIR05 Made To Border by Fiona Ellis - Cardigan Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Northfield

Made To Border by Fiona Ellis – Women's Cable Cardigan Knitting Pattern (WEBS Designer in Residence Series #5)

Made To Border is a women's cap sleeve cardigan knitting pattern designed by Fiona Ellis as part of the WEBS Designer in Residence Series (#5). It is worked in Valley Yarns Northfield, a luxurious DK weight yarn, and is rated intermediate in difficulty. The pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and produces a beautifully detailed, lightweight layering cardigan ideal for wearing over a tank top in warmer months or as a refined transitional piece.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a cap sleeve cardigan for women featuring a distinctive cable border design that is the central creative focus of the piece. According to the pattern, the main border patterning gradually morphs into diminishing cables as the fabric travels upward, creating an organic, evolving texture across the garment. The cardigan is finished with simple edging and a knitted tie closure, giving it a relaxed, elegant aesthetic. It is described as a "cute little cap sleeve cardigan perfect for throwing on over a tank top."

The pattern is offered in eight sizes, with finished bust measurements ranging from 31½ to 48 inches:

• 31½, 34, 37, 40, 43, 45½, and 48 inches finished bust circumference
• Length from hem to shoulder ranges from 21½ to 25½ inches depending on size
• The sample shown in the pattern photography is worked in size 34 inches

Construction Techniques

This cardigan is constructed using a bottom-up, seamed, worked-flat method, meaning the individual pieces — fronts, back, and sleeves — are knitted separately from the lower hem upward and then joined with seams. This traditional construction approach gives the finished garment excellent structure and allows the cable patterning to be worked cleanly on flat rows with a clear right side and wrong side.

• Bottom-up construction: Work begins at the lower hem and progresses toward the shoulders, allowing the border cable motifs to establish themselves from the cast-on edge.
• Worked flat: All pieces are knitted back and forth in rows rather than in the round, which is particularly well-suited to the cable and seed stitch patterning featured throughout.
• Seamed finishing: Individual pieces are seamed together after completion, a technique that adds durability and a polished, tailored finish to the cardigan.
• Cable work: The signature design element involves cables that begin as a bold border pattern and gradually diminish in scale as they travel up the body, requiring the use of a cable needle.
• I-cord: An I-cord technique is used as part of the finishing, worked on double pointed needles (dpns) by knitting four stitches and sliding them back to the end of the needle without turning, repeating to create a smooth, rounded cord — used here as the knitted tie closure.
• Front edge neatening: A 24-inch circular needle is used specifically for neatening the front edges, a common technique for picking up and working tidy borders along vertical front openings.

Stitches Used

The pattern incorporates a variety of stitch patterns and techniques that contribute to its intermediate difficulty rating. Knitters should be comfortable reading charts and working cables before beginning this project.

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The foundational stitch of the garment body, worked by knitting on right side rows and purling on wrong side rows. Gauge over stockinette is 22 stitches and 32 rows to 4 inches.
• Seed stitch: Used for edging and finishing details. The pattern provides instructions for both even and odd stitch counts. For an even number of stitches, Row 1 alternates k1, p1 and Row 2 reverses to p1, k1. For an odd number of stitches, the pattern is established on Row 1 and repeated.
• Cable stitches (Chart A and Chart D): Multiple stitch charts are included. Chart A is a 6-stitch cable panel featuring a C4B (cable