Nanaimo Cardigan

We’re huge fans of the patterns created by Good Night, Day, and we’ve recently embarked on a Nanaimo kick. This chunky cardigan pattern is approachable and over-the-top cute! Of course, we made some modifications…here’s what you need to know to knit one like ours:

Pattern: Purchase the Nanaimo pattern from Good Night, Day. It’s available on Ravelry or directly from the designer.

Yarns: Sarah's cardigan is knit in Dimond Laine Big Birdie held together with The Lamb & Kid Monstro. In this case we used 3 skeins of Big Birdie in Plaid Is My Favorite Color and 6 skeins of Monstro in Lobster. If you'd like to add length, or knit a larger size, purchase 4 skeins of Big Birdie and 7 skeins of Monstro.

Needles and Gauge: We used US 15 (10mm) and US 11 (8mm) needles for this cardigan – where we knit the body on the larger needle, using the smaller for ribbing. This yields a firmer fabric of about 8 stitches and 12 rows to 4" – your cardigan will wear more like a jacket. Note that the original pattern gauge is listed at 3.5sts and 5 rows over 4". If you care to go up in needle size, use a US 17 (12mm) and a US 13 (9mm) for a piece that has more drape. We’re fond of a swatching adventure at The Lamb & Kid!

Choosing a Size: If you knit your fabric on smaller needles than what is called for in the pattern as we’ve done, you’ll need to account for that in choosing a size. Sarah’s cardigan followed the numbers for M/L to yield something that fits closer to an XS/S. It measures 18.5" flat across the chest and was knit to a length of 12" from underarm to hem.

Sarah has already cast on another one – this time with Big Birdie in Frog Rock and Monstro in Old Truck. She’s following the numbers for the XL size to yield something closer to the M/L size. And we’ve recently seen a beautiful version from a customer in doubled Big Birdie – in case you want another possibility.

If you knit a Nanaimo with Big Birdie and Monstro, be sure to tag us on Instagram – we’d love to celebrate your projects with you!