DIY: Pink Tierney Cardigan by Untangling Knots

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

The Pink Tierney Cardigan is only the second garment I’ve knit. I chose this pattern by Untangling Knots (Andi Satterlund) because I wanted a petite cardigan to wear over summer dresses. I have difficulty finding petite summer cardigans, so I knit one myself. Andi specializes in retro designs for busty shapes in bright colours, so it was an easy choice. (My first garment was the Blue Cropped Featherweight Cardigan I made while in Iceland three years ago.)

This Pink Tierney Cardigan used five skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy, a DK weight mix of cotton, hemp, and rayon. It is the suggested yarn for the pattern, and the hemp mix makes a cool but cozy garment. It is pleasant for a summer project since there are no warming animal fibres on those extra hot days.

I made some minor adjustments to the design. The pattern starts with a waistband knit side to side, but I found the textured stitch difficult to knit with the hemp and metal needles. Instead, I cast on 220 stitches and worked the waistband in a one by one rib, bottom up. I read ahead and found that 220 is the number of stitches to pick up from the waistband for the large size. The ribbing also gives a more stretchy waistband than the original textured stitch, which works better for my shape.

The pattern then continues from the waistband and knits up the body until the armholes separate the front and back. I am petite and often find that regular sizes are too long from the shoulder to the armpit. Therefore, I made an adjustment at the shoulder by reducing the length by 2 cm at both the front and the back. This decreased the armhole depth by 4 cm in total.

To accommodate the smaller armhole, I also reduced the number of cast on stitches at the arm hole. This meant only 78 stitches, which is for the medium size. Using the suggested number of stitches from a different size makes it less risky for an awkward number that doesn’t easily follow through. The sleeves in Andi’s sample cover the elbow. However, my favourite store-bought dress cardigan has these cute ones that stop right above. I shortened the sleeves, which means that I used less yarn at both the shoulders and sleeves. I only used 700m of the recommended 915m recommended in the pattern, and have two skeins leftover.

Now I just need to wait for summer to come again!

Get the Tierney Cardigan pattern from the Untangling Knots website here!