Mexicana Cardigan Pattern #1190

SIZE 16

MATERIALS: Chadwick's Red Heart Afghan Wool, 9 skeins (¾ oz. skeins) of Mexicana.
Milward's Phantom Knitting Pins, l pair No. 0 (2 mm. size) and 1 pair Casein No. 8 (5 mm. size).
Milward's Steel Crochet Hook No. 4.
1 Crown open end zipper, 14-inch, Style F. 50.

MEASUREMENTS AFTER BLOCKING: Bust—36 inches. Width across back at underarm—17 inches. Width across back at shoulder—14 inches. Width across each front at underarm—9¾ inches. Length from underarm to lower edge—8 inches. Length of sleeve, underarm seam—4 inches. Width of sleeve at underarm—13 inches.

GAUGE: 5 sts make 1 inch; 4 rows make ⅞ inch.

BACK … Starting at underarm edge, with No. 0 needles cast on 10 sts. 1st row: K across, cast on 10 sts (20 sts). 2nd row: P across. 3rd row: With No. 8 needles * k 1, wind yarn around needle twice. Repeat from * across, ending with k 1. Cast on 15 sts. 4th row: With No. 0 needles p 16, * drop the two 0's, p 1. Repeat from * across. 5th row: K across. 6th row: P across. 7th row: With No. 8 needles * k 1, wind yarn around needle twice. Repeat from * across, ending with k 1. 8th row: With No. 0 needles * p 1, drop the two 0's. Repeat from * across, ending with p 1; cast on 35 sts (70 sts)—this is shoulder edge. The 5th to 8th rows incl. constitute the pattern (the 7th and 8th rows form 1 "wide row"). Repeat pattern, increasing 1 st at shoulder edge only on next 2 rows and every 3rd and 4th rows thereafter until there are 80 sts on needle. Work straight until piece measures 4½ inches from the 35 cast-on sts. Now dec. 1 st at shoulder edge on each plain knit and purl row twice (76 sts). Work straight in pattern until piece measures 7 inches from the 35 cast-on sts. This completes one half of Back. Do not bind off but continue to work other half, making increases to correspond with decreases made before, and vice versa; bind off sts to correspond with sts cast on.

RIGHT FRONT … Starting at center front edge, with No. 0 needles cast on 70 sts and p 1 row, k 1 row, p 1 row. 4th and 5th rows: Same as 7th and 8th rows of Back. Continue in pattern until piece measures 2¾ inches. At end of next purl row, cast on 8 sts—this is shoulder edge. Continue in pattern, shaping shoulder exactly as for Back until 72 sts remain. Work straight until piece measures 6¾ inches in all.

TO SHAPE ARMHOLE: On next row, with right side toward you, bind off 37 sts, continue in pattern across. Now work in pattern until piece measures 7½ inches in all. With wrong side toward you, bind off 15 sts (thus starting underarm shaping). Continue in pattern, binding off 10 sts at underarm every other row until all sts are bound off.

LEFT FRONT … Work to correspond with Right Front.

SLEEVES … Starting at seam edge, with No. 0 needles cast on 5 sts and k across, casting on 5 sts at end of row. Continue in pattern, casting on 5 sts at end of every other row until there are 20 sts on needle. At end of next p row, cast on 3 sts—this is armhole edge. Continue in pattern, casting on 10 sts at armhole edge after each wide row twice (43 sts). Now cast on 6 sts after each wide row at armhole edge twice (55 sts). Work straight until piece measures 7 inches from 1st 5 cast-on sts. This completes one half of sleeve. Work other half to correspond.

Sew up underarm and shoulder seams. Sew up sleeve seams and sew in sleeves, easing in fullness across top 6 inches. Work 1 row s c around neck edge, bottom of blouse and bottom of sleeves. Sew zipper along front edges.