Tailored Cardi

I have actually quite impressed myself with this one!  And I'm really excited to be able to share my pattern with you :-)  As usual, I have made this to fit me - I'm a UK size 10.

© Hooker Chick

You will need ...
7 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (I used colour 42104)
6mm & 4mm hooks
darning needle

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Abbreviations
st - stitch
ch - chain stitch
dc - UK double crochet
htr - UK half treble


Back and front pieces are worked from the top down as follows ...

Front - make two pieces
With 6mm hook, make a foundation row of 20 x htr.  The following video shows you how to do this.  It's not my video and uses the US terminology 'foundation half double crochet' instead of the UK 'foundation half treble', but it's the same stitch ...

Row 1 ~ ch 2, htr in first space, *miss 1 space, 5 x htr in same space, miss 1 space, 2 x htr in same space*, *-* to end of row.
Row 2 ~ ch 2, htr in first space, htr either side of middle stitch of cluster of 5 htrs of previous row, 5 x htr between 2 single htr stitches of previous row. Repeat to end, last 2 htrs in last space.
Row 3 ~ ch 2, htr in first space, 5 x htr between 2 single htr stitches of previous row, htr either side of middle stitch of cluster of 5 htrs of previous row. Repeat to end, last 2 htrs in last space.
Repeat rows 2 & 3 to make 40 rows (exclusive of foundation row).

Back
With 6mm hook, make a foundation row of 60 x htr.
Work same pattern as front piece for 40 rows (exclusive of foundation row).

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Join back and front pieces together as follows ...
From the bottom of each piece, count upwards 16 rows and mark row ends with contrasting thread. Mark both sides of back and one side of each front piece.
With right sides together, join top of front pieces to back piece.  You should now have armholes!
With right sides together, seam each front piece to back piece from bottom to stitch markers.

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Peplum
This worked in one piece across the whole garment.  The first 5 rows are worked with a 4mm hook - this gives the cardi a tailored waist.  The rest of the peplum is worked with a 6mm hook.

With 4mm hook and right side facing, join yarn at bottom of left side and continue in the same pattern as for front and back pieces.  When you get to the seam, work 2 htrs either side of the seam (so treat the seam like it wasn't there and you were ending one row and starting the next).  Work 5 rows.

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Change to 6mm hook.  Continue working in pattern, but instead of doing the 2 htrs either side of each seam line, skip these and instead do 5 htrs into the seam line space.  This brings the '5 x htr cluster, miss 1 space, htr, htr, miss 1 space' pattern across the entire row.  Work 16 rows in total.

Edge
With 6mm hook and right side facing, join yarn at bottom front edge, ch 1, then dc into each space up one front side, along back piece at neck, and down the other front side. Work 7 rows in total.

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Sleeves
With 6mm hook and right side facing, join yarn at side seam under arm, ch1, then dc into each space all the way around the armhole - 54 sts in total.  Decrease 1 st at beginning of each row (simply skip the first space after the beginning ch of each row) until 40 sts remain.  Repeat for other armhole.  With right sides facing, join sleeve seams.

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You're almost done ...
Weave in ends with darning needle, then wash the cardi on a wool wash plus spin cycle.  It will shrink a bit, but don't panic!  Simply put the damp cardi on and then pull it into shape over your body - pulling the front bottom corners gently downwards and forwards will accentuate the shape of the cardi and give it a gently tailored look.

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The cardi is designed to worn open, not fastened at the front.

 © Hooker Chick

© Hooker Chick

I'm definitely going to be making more of these in different colours!  If you decide to try out my pattern, I'd love to  know how you get on.  Happy hooking :-)