Mrs. Hall’s Midsummer Cardi

Mrs. Hall’s Midsummer Cardi is a tradtion buttom-up yoke with a steek for the cardigan opening. It’s knit in the round. First you will knit the body (with a steek), then the sleeves, that you will join as you finish them. Once the sleeves are in place, you can opt in or out of adding short rows to improve the fit, yet that are invisible. Then the fun starts. The yoke is knit with stranded colorwork in the round, and if your main color is lighter than your accent color, you can strategically place ladders (aka LBJ) to help with the longer floats. The colorwork is still stranded for the most part, but the pattern will tell you when to use the ladders to keep the contrasting color from casting a five o’clock shadow. Mrs, Hall’s Midsummer Cardi also has a unique button band that I think you will love. It’s all about the finishing!
This pattern started with an all-over floral colorwork piece named Midsommar that I made to wear on cool nights on a Baltic cruise. (It’s release is just around the corner). I loved the motif so much that I spent the summer knitting variations of Midsommar, including a yoke version inspired by 1940’s short-sleeved knitwear. I love the versatility of short-sleeve jumpers and wear them with skirts and overalls all year-round. I imagined a sweater that Mrs. Hall from Masterpiece’s All Creatures Great and Small would wear, covered by an apron as the season changes to fall—putting up blackberry jam or making this Blackberry Apple Crisp. I pictured her wearing it into winter, spreading jam on buttered bread and fondly remembering long warm summer days. I loved the short-sleeve top so much that I decided to make a long-sleeve version for colder days too. I hope you love your Mrs. Hall’s Midsummer Sweater as much as I love mine! Happy knitting! Thanks for knitting with me!

P.S. Blackberry Apple Crumble recipe is included in the pattern

Materials
Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Imbue Sport 190 yards per 50 g skein American Merino Wool
Main color: Crepe (cream) 250 (250, 300, 300, 300, 350, 350, 350, 400, 400, 400, 450, 450, 450) grams. Or approx. 815 (870, 948, 1007, 1065, 1123, 1181, 1299. 1357, 1413, 1472, 1531, 1591, 1650) yards
Contrasting Color: Boro (navy) 50 (50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 100, 100, 100, 100,100, 100, 100, 100) grams. Or approx. 132(142, 152, 172, 182, 192, 202, 212, 222, 230, 242, 252, 262 ) yards

Needles: U.S. Size 3 (3.25 mm) and 4 (3.5 mm) 32-inch or 40-inch circular needles for larger sizes. U.S. size 3 (3.25 mm) double-point needles. Size 4 double-pointed needles and/or 16-inch circular needle (or size needed to obtain gauge). Tapestry needle. 9 – ¾ inch diameter buttons (or more if you’d like).

Gauge and swatch
20 stitches and 24 rounds = 4 inches on larger needles in colorwork.
20 stitches and 29 rounds= 4 inches on larger needles in single color
Please swatch in the round to determine needle size.
Note: Swatch in both one color and in colorwork. You may need to knit the single-color part of the sweater with a smaller needle than the colorwork section. This is a common practice. The stitch gauge is the same throughout the sweater.

Sizes
1,2 ,3 (pictured), 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Finished measurements
Chest: 32.75 (35.25, 37.5, 40, 42.5, 44.75, 47.25, 49.75, 52, 54.5, 57, 59.25, 61.75, 64) inches
Sleeve length: 17.5 (18, 18, 19, 19, 19, 19, 20, 20, 21, 21, 21) inches
Bracelet length:13 (13.5, 14, 14.5, 15, 15.5, 16, 16, 17, 17, 18, 18, 19, 19) inches
Short-sleeve length:3 (3, 3, 3.5, 3.5, 3.5, 3.75, 3.75, 3.75, 4, 4, 4, 4.25, 4.25)”
Body length: 12(13, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 15, 15,15, 15, 16,16, 16) inches
Yoke: 8.75 (8.75, 9, 9, 9, 9.25, 9.5, 9.75, 10, 1,, 10.75, 10.75, 11.25, 11.25)
inches

Ease: 1.5” for fitted short-sleeved top and 1.5 – 4” for the long-sleeved cardi.