DIY: Knit Macaulay Cardigan and Free Pattern by Katie Green for Blacker Yarns

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We included the Macaulay Cardigan in our roundup of free cardigan knitting patterns last year. I liked the design so much, that I decided to knit one for myself!

To knit the Macaualay Cardigan, I used six skeins of a DK weight yarn from Linc Farm. Linc Farm is a biodynamic farm in Niagara that raises pastured meats and eggs, and grows wool. I first discovered Linc Farm at the Woodstock Fleece Festival a few years ago. Linc Farm labels each skein of wool with the name of the sheep from which it came. Juliet, the farmer, brought dyed yarn to a local market in February this year. I bought six skeins of this plum-coloured yarn with the intention of knitting myself a sweater.

This yarn is a DK weight from ewes Columbia and Eve. These are Rambouillet x Finn crosses, and the yarn is delightful. It’s soft enough for a sweater, but because of the Finn, it has a lovely sheen and beautiful drape. Tomiko even thought that it had some adult mohair in it because of the shine!

For the contrasting garter stitch bands, I used a bit of dark chocolate brown wool from Barbara the sheep, also from Linc Farm. Barbara is a Rambouillet x Finn x Gotland sheep, and provided me with worsted weight yarn. However, since I only needed a few rows here and there, I thought it would work. I really wanted to knit this cardigan with 100% wool from the Upper Canada Fibreshed, and ideally from one flock!

The Macaulay Cardigan is a plain seamed cardigan. It has a contrasting garter stitch band dividing the body and arms from deep ribbing at the hem and cuffs. Luckily enough, I had undyed white and dark brown yarn from Linc Farm as well. As I wasn’t sure if the dyed plum yarn colour would bleed, I chose the dark brown yarn as the contrast.

Due to my loose gauge, I chose 3.5 mm needles instead of the listed 4.0 mm ones for the body and sleeves, and 2.5 mm needles for the ribbing. I chose the 43″ size for myself. I didn’t make any alterations other than shortening the sleeves. Many of the project pages on Ravelry stated that the sleeves were too long. Instead of knitting the sleeve so it measured 20″ from cuff to armpit, I shortened it to 18.” This length is more similar to my other sweater sleeve lengths. I knit this sweater during the COVID-19 pandemic when I was laid off from work, and I was able to finish it in less than a month! Now, however, it doesn’t close anymore.

This is the first time that I knit a garment in pieces and then seamed them together. For all my other sweaters, I knit them in the round in one piece. I found it fun and interesting to see how the pieces took shape, as I also like to sew my own clothes.

Get the free Macaulay Cardigan pattern on Ravelry.