Rekiretki (Sleigh Ride) Cardigan in Novita - 0070017 - Downloadable PDF

Rekiretki (Sleigh Ride) Cardigan by Sisko Sälpäkivi – Knitting Pattern Summary

About This Pattern

The Rekiretki (Sleigh Ride) Cardigan is a beautifully designed colorwork cardigan created by Finnish designer Sisko Sälpäkivi and published by Novita. The name "Rekiretki" translates to "Sleigh Ride" in English, evoking a cozy, wintry aesthetic that is reflected in the pattern's traditional Nordic colorwork motifs. This is a downloadable PDF pattern available free of charge, making it an excellent choice for knitters looking to explore Scandinavian-inspired knitwear without any upfront cost.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a classic fitted cardigan with long sleeves, worked in a stranded colorwork style. The finished garment features a structured body with defined armhole shaping, shoulder shaping, and sleeve construction. It is designed to be a substantial, wearable piece suitable for cooler weather, with a length of 68–78 cm depending on size, a body circumference ranging from 104–152 cm, and an inner sleeve length of 50–54 cm. The cardigan is available in six sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL, and 3XL, making it accessible to a wide range of body types.

Colorwork Design and Construction

The Rekiretki Cardigan features a traditional stranded colorwork pattern worked from a chart (referred to as Chart I in the pattern). The colorwork is worked in a repeating sequence of rows, with the pattern specifying precise points at which colorwork sections begin and end relative to the garment's measurements. After completing 42 rows of the chart, knitters return to rows 1–9 of Chart I, ensuring a seamless visual flow across the body and sleeves.

The two main colors used are Graphite (shade 044) and Off White (shade 010), creating a striking, high-contrast Nordic aesthetic. The pattern also incorporates deliberate color transitions — for example, two rows are worked in Off White before switching to Graphite for the remainder of certain sections — adding subtle structural detail to the colorwork design.

Techniques Used

• Stranded colorwork (Fair Isle-style): The cardigan's primary decorative technique involves carrying two yarn colors across rows, following a charted motif. This creates the characteristic dense, warm fabric associated with Nordic knitwear.
• Armhole shaping: Precise bind-off sequences are used to shape the armholes. For example, on every other row, stitches are bound off in a stepped sequence (e.g., 1×5–9 sts, 1×3 sts, then decreasing groups of 2 sts and 1 st) to create a smooth, tailored curve.
• Sleeve shaping: The sleeves are shaped with increases worked at regular intervals — specifically, increases are worked a set number of times every 1 cm and then every 1.5 cm, varying by size, to achieve the correct sleeve taper.
• Shoulder bind-off: Once the armhole reaches the correct depth (22–26 cm depending on size), shoulder stitches are bound off to complete the upper body construction.
• Chart reading: Knitters must be comfortable reading a colorwork chart and working repeats across multiple rows, including returning to specific rows within the chart sequence.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch forms the base fabric of the cardigan, providing a smooth surface for the colorwork motifs to stand out clearly.
• Bind-off stitches are used for armhole and shoulder shaping throughout the construction.
• Increase stitches are used during sleeve construction to build the correct sleeve width gradually.

Materials

This pattern is designed for Novita Nalle yarn, a DK weight yarn well suited to colorwork knitting. The yarn requirement varies by size:

• Graphite (044