40th Anniversary 10 Maplewood Cardigan - Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Northfield

Maplewood Cardigan Knitting Pattern – 40th Anniversary Guest Designer Series #10 by Carol J. Sulcoski

About This Pattern

The Maplewood Cardigan is a women's knitting pattern designed by Carol J. Sulcoski as part of the WEBS 40th Anniversary Guest Designer Series. It is pattern #10 in that series. The design reflects Carol's personal knitting philosophy: a wearable, comfortable, and elegant cardigan that is practical to knit and beautiful to wear. It is available as a downloadable PDF and is rated advanced beginner in difficulty, making it an ideal step-up project for knitters who have mastered basic techniques and are ready to explore simple lace edging and garment construction.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a women's cardigan with a loose-fitting body and barely-there cap sleeves. It is designed as a comfortable layering piece that can be worn open or with a front closure, giving the wearer flexibility in styling. The cardigan features a classic stockinette stitch body accented by a decorative scalloped lace edging that adds elegance without overwhelming the tonal beauty of the hand-dyed yarn. The design is available in four sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and XL, with finished back measurements at the underarm of 17.5 (21, 24.5, 27.5) inches.

Construction and Techniques

The Maplewood Cardigan is constructed using a bottom-up, worked-flat method. One of its most knitter-friendly features is that the body is worked in one piece, meaning finishing is kept to a minimum — only two short shoulder seams are required. This approach significantly reduces the time spent on finishing and assembly, which is a welcome relief for knitters who prefer to spend their time at the needles rather than with a tapestry needle.

• Bottom-up construction: The garment begins at the lower edge and is worked upward toward the shoulders, a traditional and intuitive method for garment knitting.
• Worked flat: The cardigan is knitted back and forth in rows rather than in the round, which suits its open-front design.
• Seamed finishing: Despite minimal seaming, the two shoulder seams give the garment structure and a clean, professional finish.
• Lace edging: A decorative Edging Pattern worked over a multiple of 17 stitches plus 1 creates the signature scalloped border. This is a key design feature of the cardigan.

Stitches Used

The Maplewood Cardigan uses a focused set of stitches that are well within reach of an advanced beginner knitter:

• Stockinette stitch – the primary stitch used throughout the body of the cardigan, worked by alternating knit rows on the right side and purl rows on the wrong side. It creates a smooth, classic fabric that beautifully showcases hand-dyed colorways.
• Yarn overs (yo) – used in the lace edging pattern to create decorative eyelets and the scalloped effect.
• SSK (slip, slip, knit) – a left-leaning decrease used in the edging pattern to shape the lace scallops symmetrically.
• K2tog (knit two together) – a right-leaning decrease paired with SSK in the edging to create the mirrored lace shaping.
• Garter stitch – referenced within the edging pattern rows, adding texture and structure to the lace border transition.

The Edging Pattern is a 7-row repeat that combines yarn overs and paired decreases to produce elegant scallops. Row 3 is the key lace row, worked as: K1, yo three times, ssk three times, k2tog three times, yo, k1 twice, yo, repeated across the row. This creates the characteristic wave-like scallop that frames the garment beautifully.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern calls for Valley Yarns Northfield Hand-Dyed by Malabrigo, a luxur