Keep it Simple with This Ribbed Cardigan

My love of cardigans is well documented, and I think I’m about to add another one to my must-knit list. While sometimes I love some good colorwork or fancy techniques, sometimes it is awesome to keep it simple. Summer, for instance, but really pretty much any time when you’re feeling like there’s a little too much going on and you need a bit of comfort from your knitting.

And if you can knit something that will give you even more comfort as the weather gets cooler, so much the better.

Enter the Leruo cardigan from Noma Ndlovu. This pretty little cropped, ribbed, V-neck, open front cardigan is worked in one piece from the top town and includes raglan shaping for a comfy fit. To add sleekness to the open fronts, the edgings are worked in double knitting for a smooth stockinette look that doesn’t curl.

The rest of the body and sleeves are worked in 2 by 2 ribbing, so it should be a pretty quick and easy project and even great travel knitting if you’re planning to do any of that this year.

As shown, the length is a bit cropped but you can always add a little length depending on how you plan to wear it. The suggested yarn is wool, but if you made it in a cotton blend, for example, the shorter length would be perfect for wearing over sun dresses. Add a little length (for me, anyway) and it’s perfect for layering in the cooler months.

However long you make it, the pattern comes in 10 sizes with finished bust measurements ranging from 34 to 60.75 inches, or 86.5 to 154.5 cm. It’s meant to be worn with 0-4 inches, or 0-10 cm, of positive ease, and the fronts don’t meet in the middle so there’s a wide range of fit options built into those sizes.

You can grab the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu]

Knit a Super Cozy Boxy Cardigan

A Lovely Cardigan to Knit for Summer

A few years ago I wrote a post that was full of patterns for knit mushrooms, but I don’t think I ever did a post that was knitting patterns with mushrooms on them, so today’s the day.

I love the Fungi Beanie from Jacki Bean, which calls for worsted weight yarn and uses duplicate stitch to add the mushrooms and other details. I think the colors she used for the design are tonal/multicolor so it doesn’t use as many colors as it looks like, but you can use whatever red, green, brown and white yarn you have in your stash for those details.

How about some mushroom socks? The Magic Toadstool sock form Stone Knits includes a ring of mushrooms around the leg, contrasting heel and toe and a little more colorwork at the toe for extra cuteness. As shown it uses four colors and comes in three sizes.

Or there’s the Fairy Ring Socks from Katie Green, which have mushrooms of two sizes on the legs, plus a bit of wavy grass. They have a contrasting cuff, heel and toe and some colorwork flecks in the body of the sock as well. This one is available in eight sizes to fit everyone from a baby to an XL adult.

This trippy cowl from Hunt Hand Knits looks like a lot of fun to knit. The Fungus Among Us Cowl is shown using four colors of DK weight yarn, though you can do it with as few as two if you’d rather.

Stitch some mushroom mittens with this cute pattern from Holly C Watson. This design uses three colors, and it’s shown with a self-striping yarn on the mushroom caps, which makes the colors change without you having to do any work. The pattern is charted but it’s a pretty easy repeat. The mittens are one size.

If you don’t feel like knitting mushrooms but still want to give your project a touch of the forest, the Toadstools Cardigan from Julie Taylor may be what you’re looking for. It’s stitched as a plain cardigan worked in DK weight yarn and sized for newborns up to 4 years old. The mushrooms are added with embroidery and the pattern includes the design, which you can trace onto water soluble stabilizer to stitch the mushrooms onto your sweater. Or anything else you want. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

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