A long, elegant silk cardigan with drape and flair. Incredibly lightweight but warm, the cardigan features light weight silk worked at a loose tension, designed to take advantage of the way silk drops and narrows with wear. After blocking, the drape is truly amazing.

The shaping is achieved by working increases and decreases across the fabric, with very little shaping at the edge. If you want to work it seamless, you could get rid of the underarm and side seams. However, the shoulder and armhole seams are essential to keep the drape vertical and prevent horizontal spread.

This pattern has been written specifically for the unique characteristics of silk, which, being extremely smooth and relatively heavy, drops significantly with washing and wear. For this reason, it is extremely important to make sure your tension is right in both stitches and row, and I couldn’t guarantee that another fibre will give you the right tension. Fortunately, the pattern is very economical on yarn – so splash out on some silk!

Yarn Magazine is an Australian publication and is available worldwide from the artwearpublications website. Cost for most countries is $AUD16 inc postage and handling.

Note: a small mistake with the tension square - work it in 4.5mm needles rather than 3.25mm. Sorry about that!