Álfar — Hooded Cardigan Knitting Pattern

Álfar — elves. A long hooded cardigan from Ístex’s Lopi 34, knitted in Léttlopi: garnet red, with a round yoke and a border above the hem in orange, golden, glacier blue and heaven blue with black, and black ribbing, front bands and hood. Body and sleeves are knitted in the round, the front is cut open, and it closes with 5–6 toggles on a twisted black cord. The original pattern is by Jóhanna Hjaltadóttir; Védís Jónsdóttir redesigned it and the instructions are by Hulda Hákonardóttir. One colour version, in sizes S to XL. Orange (1410) is no longer made; the other five colours still are.

What you get

• The knitting pattern in English (PDF), emailed right after purchase — nothing is posted
• Sizes S, M, L and XL
• Two charts — the border above the hem and the yoke — with a colour key
• Instructions for the hood and the sewn-on front bands
• Yarn and needles are not included. The kit has this pattern and all the yarn: the Álfar kit

Yarn used in the pattern (not included)

Léttlopi — 50 g balls · sizes S (M L XL)
A 1409 garnet red — 7 (7 8 8)
B 0059 black — 4 (5 5 5)
C 1410 orange — 1 (1 1 1) · no longer made by Ístex — the Álfar kit uses 1704 apricot in its place
D 9426 golden — 1 (1 1 1)
E 1404 glacier blue — 1 (1 1 1)
F 1402 heaven blue — 1 (1 1 1)

Sizes

Gauge
18 sts × 24 rows = 10 cm (4″) in stocking stitch on 4.5 mm needles.

Needles
4 mm (US 6) circular needle, 80 cm — for the ribbed hem (knitted back and forth), the front bands and the start of the hood
4.5 mm (US 7) circular needles, 40 and 80 cm — for the body, the yoke and the hood
4 mm and 4.5 mm double-pointed needles for the sleeves — 4 mm for the 9 cm rib cuffs

You will also need
5–6 toggles (in the pattern’s list, not included; the pattern gives no size), sewn on with a cord twisted from the black yarn — and, though the list leaves them out, a sewing machine and thread for the steek, stitch holders, markers and a tapestry needle.

How it is knitted
The hem is cast on in black on the 4 mm circular and knitted back and forth in K1, P1 rib for 3 cm; the 8 stitches at each front edge go on holders for the front bands. The body is then joined in the round on 4.5 mm, with 2 purl stitches at the centre front for a steek, and a 25-round border is knitted from chart 1 — red-and-black checks, orange, golden, glacier blue and heaven blue motifs, mostly on black, and red with small black motifs at the top. The body goes on in garnet red: 4 stitches are decreased on the first red round and 2 at each side three times, so it is a little wider at the hem than at the chest. The sleeves start with 9 cm of black K1, P1 rib on 4 mm double-pointed needles and go on in plain garnet red, increased under the arm — they have no colour border. Body and sleeves are joined for the round yoke, a 50-round chart decreased from 235 (251, 267, 283) stitches to 79 (83, 85, 87), and the 2 steek stitches are then bound off; the two smaller sizes leave out marked rounds. The steek is machine-sewn twice; the black front bands — 8 rib stitches with a 3-stitch facing — are knitted from the held stitches up to the neckline, the front is cut, and the bands are sewn on with the facing covering the machine stitching on the inside. The hood is knitted back and forth in black from the band and neck stitches, with the band rib carried up its front edges and increases at the centre back, to 33 cm or the length you prefer, and grafted at the top. The toggles are sewn to the left front with a twisted black cord where the band meets the knitting, and loops of the same cord go on the right front.

Original pattern: Jóhanna Hjaltadóttir. Redesign: Védís Jónsdóttir. Instructions: Hulda Hákonardóttir — pattern from Lopi No. 34 (no. 16), Ístex.

How you get it — the pattern is a PDF in English. It is emailed to you right after purchase; nothing is posted.

Yarn — not included. We sell Ístex lopi by the ball in our yarn shop, or choose the kit, which has this pattern and all the yarn in one parcel.

No email? Check your spam folder, then write to support@icelandicstore.is with your order number. A person answers, Monday to Friday.