Dane Cardigan

Exeter Cardigan
Ravelry Post
Pattern: Dane Cardigan by Julie Hoover
Yarn: Woolfolk SNO

Well it’s been so long that I’ve almost forgotten how to write a blog post, which is a shame because this image above would make a great author photo. Enough of that though, let’s talk about my Dane Cardigan!

Anyway lets talk about my Dane. This cardigan is from the 2nd Julie Hoover Sweater Club. If you aren’t aware, JH’s Sweater Club is something she puts together a few times a year. You sign up, choose your yarn, then Julie sends you that yarn with the exclusive Sweater Club patterns. I’ve completed three Sweater Clubs so far, blogged zero of them, and have a 4th in a box to start as my next knitting project.

On Julie’s website she describes Dane as

An oversized exposed-seam cardigan featuring Woolfolk’s SNO yarn.Dane is worked flat in pieces, from the bottom up. Pieces are sewn together with seams exposed on the right side; but since the fabric is reversible, Dane can also be worn with seams turned to the inside.

I personally love a sweater knit flat, I find them more portable, which is very important in my knitting life. I love taking a project on the go! I also love seamed sweaters because of the many different construction opportunities they present.

In addition to the seams being exposed, as Julie noted in the pattern description, the side seam is angled, from the front side of the thigh, up to the actual side at the underarm. I think this is a really cool detail guides the shape around the sides a bit, keeping the cardigan from bell-ing out along the side seams as some oversized garments tend to do. Julie’s patterns almost always (always?) contain a cool construction detail like this, and in addition to her clean design style, they keep me coming back to knit more of her patterns.

Even though the sweater is reversible and can be worn with the seams to the inside, I always wear it with them facing out and the cuffs rolled up. I really like the seam lines as they give additional visual shape to the oversized Dane.

Dane is knit with two strands of Woolfolk Sno held double which results in a super luxe, drapey, soft fabric, exactly what you’d want for something this shape and size. A lot of people have asked me about pilling with this yarn and I have to say I’m actually surprised at how little it’s pilled so far. I think I used colorway 1 + 17 but I’m not sure at this point. I have a tag saved somewhere but can’t find it and have gotten pretty lazy about filling in my Rav projects.

The actual knitting on this cardigan was very straightforward. Julie’s self-published patterns are among my favorite knitting pattern layouts and I knit row by row on this one. In true Jen fashion I had to knit one front twice, I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally skipped a section of the right front. Oops!

Final thoughts, I love this cardigan. It got a lot of use this fall as a sweater coat, and this winter as a layering piece. It’s so cozy but looks very put together which is an all around win for me! Thanks Julie for designing such an awesome sweater kit!