Is there anything better than crisp autumn mornings and warm afternoons? Of course not! Sweater weather is my favorite time of year and this year I decided to start my fall knitting with a sweater for my oldest daughter. Over the summer she grew out of all her cool weather clothes so it was kind of out of desperation. Who told these kids they could grow so fast anyways?

She has very grown up taste, but she is almost a teenager so there’s that. So she had very clear wants in a sweater: an open front cardigan, that minty color that is everywhere right now, extra long sleeves that covered the palms of her hands, and long enough to cover her bum.

When I tell you I looked all over to find “it” so I wouldn’t have to make one, I mean EVERYWHERE! So I grabbed my needles, some yarn from hobby lobby and a calculator and got to work.

That is how Youth September Cardigan was born.

Yarn

I chose to use Yarn Be Must Be Merino from Hobby Lobby because it’s soft, washable, durable, and cost effective. I love my kids but let’s be real, but they are ROUGH on their clothes so I’m NOT spending indie prices for yarn for my kids when I know they will need stain removal regularly.

This yarn 100% fits that bill. I used 4 skeins for a total of $28 for materials. I know, I know! That’s target prices for sweaters! Granted, there is some assembly required but still, I was very pleased with the price alone. It is a merino/acrylic blend so it’s also got some durability that 100% merino doesn’t. Again, with kids that’s awesome. I’ve already had to take a few stains out and was shocked at how well they came right off. Ketchup and mud were no match for a little cool water and a gentle scrub. I swear, I didn’t even use soap.

Now, the cons of this yarn. It is VERY splitty. It’s not a tight spin so the ply unwinds. I did have to go back and fix a lot more than I like to admit where I missed a thread because it split. But I truly feel all the pros out weigh the cons here so I’ll most definitely keep using it. (I have a September Cardigan in this yarn in my size on my needles RIGHT NOW actually!)

Needles

When it comes to needles, size 6 and size 5 circulars and dpn. And the size 5 circulars need to be long. Like 24-60ins long, depending on the size you’re working on, because the ribbing on the bottom and front are worked together in the round. I finally found a prefect for those 60in cords from my KnitPicks Cocobolo interchangeable set. I may have been a little too excited to pull those out.

Design Elements

September Cardigan is a raglan top down sweater. That’s my favorite method because, quite frankly, I hate seams. I can do them but all those ends to weave in are not my friend. Please tell me I’m not the only one who hates weaving in ends?!

As I mentioned above, I did the bottom, front, and neck ribbing in the round, adding a mitered corner on the bottom front with some m1l, m1r so it would lay flat. For whatever reason, that seam that is usually on the front bottom of cardigans where you pick up the ribbing on bottom ribbing has always bothered me. I will sit there, doing it over and over, to try my best to get it to look more… seamless. So I made this one truly seamless. And I love it. I feel like because the sweater is so vanilla (which I also love and it’s so me!) that 1 touch makes it unique.

I graded this pattern from sizes 1/2 to 11/13. If you need a bigger teen size the adult version of the sweater will be from sizes 0/2-4xl so that will be your best bet. It’s scheduled to be released next week so make sure you check back next Friday!

I’m super excited to see your Youth September Cardigans so make sure to tag me on social media so I can see them. If you want to check out any of the other 150+ patterns I’ve designed head over to the Knitting Pattern page to visit my ravelry and etsy.