Published: 19 December 2019

Benniegio Cardigan

Benniegio cardigan, size 2 Benniegio cardigan, size 2 Writing a pattern for Benniegio cardigan has taken a long time! I was wearing a slightly different version of this cardigan away back in January 2016 when I visited Vogue Knitting Live in New York, blithely answering queries with "the pattern will be written soon"!

I realised that the original cardigan (main colour Midnight) needed to be modified slightly to make pattern-writing slightly easier. I mostly forgot about it, as other things got in the way. The other things included doing a lot of work on Fair Isle Designs from Shetland Knitters, Volumes 1 and 2 as well as writing patterns for ShetlandPeerieMakkers (to help them raise funds) and for the Shetland Wool Week Annual.

Now a second version of Benniegio cardigan (main colour Lomond) has been knitted, photographed and the pattern written in 8 sizes, from 34 inch bust up to 58 inch bust. A lot of head scratching was involved, especially when it came to sizing as, no matter what size of body, the shoulder measurement doesn't vary too much across the sizes. Apart from the colours in the main photo, I've included information for another 6 colourways - enough to provide inspiration if none is exactly what's desired. 

The seamless cardigan is knitted in the round from the bottom up - that means the most interesting part comes when the garment is near completion. The single colour parts are knitted in Jamieson's of Shetland double knitting yarn which speeds up the process, and the yoke is knitted in Jamieson's Spindrift which comes in the same wide range of colours as the double knitting yarn.

The main photo was taken outside Bonhoga Gallery by Sue Wilkins who was holidaying in Shetland with a mutual friend. I wore this cardigan when interviewed by Andrea on Fruity Knitting Podcast 87; a lot of our discussion was about yokes.

Benniegio, version 1 on a jumperboard Benniegio, version 1 on a jumperboard The Midnight cardigan is photographed when it was newly finished - before the buttons were added - being dressed (blocked) on a jumperboard. I temporarily joined the centre front, and put a thread through the neck edge. Once it was on the board the neck thread was pulled tight and clothes pegs were used to ensure it was stretched in all directions. I usually board garments to about 2 inches bigger than required bust/chest and it relaxes back to the required size once it's off the board. 

 

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About Shetland

Shetland

Shetland is the most northerly group of Scottish islands. Apart from mainland Scotland, the other near neighbours are Norway to the east and the Faroe Islands to the north west.