Stitch a Cardigan with Mini Colorwork

April 24, 2023 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I love a pattern with a good back story. Maxine the Mini is inspired by the designer, Jimenez Joseph’s Mini Cooper car, whose name happens to be Maxine. You can see her in the background of this picture, because I knew you’d want to. Different shapes and features of the car inspired the designs of the colorwork on the sleeves and patch pockets of this cardigan.

The pattern is worked in superfine yarn from the top down. The body is worked in a solid color, as are part of the sleeves. That part of the sleeve is finished with ribbing so it looks like the colorwork part of the sleeve is another shirt layered under the first. So cute.

The colorwork is also found on the patch pockets, which visually breaks up all that solid color stockinette. It’s also a great way to practice doing colorwork both flat and in the round.

The pattern has seven sizes ranging in chest measurement from 30 inches to 54 inches. It’s a crew neck design with set in sleeves and a button band with kind of a lot of buttons.

This is one of those sweaters that you can wear even when it’s warmer out because it uses such light weight yarn. In all you will need five or six colors (the main body color can be used in the colorwork portion to make it a little more harmonious, or go wild and use all different colors).

You can get this pattern from Ravelry.

It has admittedly been a long time since I’ve collected patterns for warm weather cardigans, but if you’re looking for more, check out this roundup of cardigans to knit for summer from a few years ago. Maybe I’ll update it this summer!

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

[Photo: Jimenez Joseph.]

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Use Your Sock Yarn Scraps to Knit a Colorful Scarf

Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

Another Way to Use Up All Your Sock Yarn Scraps

Gather Your Scraps for a Fun Wrap

A Scrappy Shawl Knitting Pattern to Use All Your Odd Balls

Use All Your Yarn Scraps on This Great Cardigan Knitting Pattern

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