Are you ready for a garment knit-along inspired by gansey stitches with options for a warmer or cooler weather knit?

Oh, and it’s got saddle shoulders, set-in sleeves and, as always, some interesting construction methods.

Sound good?

Then let’s dive right in!

For the spring of 2024, I’m playing with a few of my favourite things, unusual construction techniques combined with some wonderful fabric textures. The top-down saddle shoulder construction is one of my favourites. You can tweak the size for your shoulders and bust as you work to suit your body shape.

Plus, look at all those lovely shaped you get with decreases and texture on the shoulders:

Inspiration Overview

Being immersed in gansey style stitches over the last year has made me very eager to interpret them in a pattern of my own. While the stitches are inspired by gansey stitch patterns, the construction of this cardigan is not a gansey-style sweater.

The delicate knit/purl motifs are a wonderful way of forming textural stripes in your knitting. Moving between textures rather than colours with your stripes. So for the 2024 spring KAL, I couldn’t decide on short or long-sleeved so I thought we could go two options:

Option 1 – A v-neck cardigan with long sleeves that will work for cooler spring days or summer evenings.

Option 2 – A summer top that has a cute little short row cap-sleeve. Can be work either buttoned as a top or as a short sleeve cardigan over a summer dress.

Torc Pattern Details

Pattern Details

SIZES

To Fit Actual Bust Circumference Up To: 32.75 (35.75, 39, 42.25, 45.25, 48, 51, 54, 56.75, 61.25)” / 83 (91, 99, 107.5, 115, 122, 129.5, 137, 144, 155.5) cm

2-4” / 5-10 cm of positive ease recommended.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Bust Circumference: 34.75 (37.75, 40.5, 44.25, 47.25, 50, 53, 56, 58.75, 63.25)” / 88.5 (96, 103, 112.5, 120, 127, 134.5, 142, 149, 160.5) cm buttoned

Size 37.75” / 96 cm modelled with 2.75” / 7 cm positive ease.

Length from Back of Neck: 22.5 (22.75, 23, 23.5, 23.75, 24.25, 24.75, 25.25, 25.5, 26)” / 57 (58, 58.5, 59.5, 60.5, 61.5, 62.5, 63, 64, 65) cm, not including neckband

YARN
Long-Sleeved Sample: Stolen Stitches ‘Nua Sport’ (60% Merino, 20% Yak, 20% Linen; 153 yds / 140 m per 1.8 oz / 50 g); colour: Cerebellum (9817),

Long-Sleeved: 8 (8, 8, 9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 12, 12) skeins

Short Sleeved: 5 (6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9) skeins

Short-Sleeved Sample: BC Garn ‘Bio Balance’ (55% Organic Wool, 45% Organic Cotton; 246 yds / 225 m per 1.8 oz / 50 g) colour: Silver (11),

Long-Sleeved: 5 (5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8) skeins

Short Sleeved: 4 (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6) skeins

Approximate Yardage:

Long-Sleeved Version: 1094 (1165, 1224, 1320, 1392, 1458, 1559, 1638, 1743, 1836) yds / 1001 (1066, 1120, 1208, 1273, 1334, 1426, 1498, 1595, 1680) m

Short Sleeved Version: 746 (798, 856, 931, 990, 1051, 1115, 1181, 1261, 1351) yds / 682 (730, 783, 852, 906, 961, 1020, 1081, 1154, 1237) m

NEEDLES & NOTIONS

US size 4 / 3.5 mm circular needles, 32” / 80 cm long (or longer for larger sizes) and 40” / 100 cm long for front edging

US size 4 / 3.5 mm dpns if magic loop not used for sleeves

Always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed, as every knitter’s gauge is unique.

Tapestry needle, waste yarn, stitch markers, 6 buttons 0.75” / 20 mm diameter.

GAUGE

22 sts and 33 rows/rnds = 4″ / 10 cm in St St or Pattern blocked

22 sts and 36 rows/rnds = 4″ / 10 cm in Garter Stitch blocked

Torc Construction Overview

This sweater begins at the centre of the back of the neck with a provisional cast-on (I used the Invisible Method). The right side of the neck is worked across the back of the saddle, to the edge of the neck, then stitches are cast on for the right side of the neck.

At this stage, you will work the rest of the saddle to the edge of the shoulder, working decreases as you go to slope the shoulder. When you’re finished, you can use waste yarn or barber cord to hold the saddle stitches until later. (They will form the top of the sleeve when you get back to it). When the right saddle is complete, you’ll undo the provisional cast-on and will work the left saddle in the same way.

Once the saddle is complete, we will pick up stitches across the back of the saddle and will work on the back of the upper body. We will have a repeating gansey stitch that is worked all the way down to the armhole. When this is complete, we’ll pick up stitches from the bottom of the saddle for each side of the front. We will then work increases at each side of the neck to form a v-neck shape for the neck.

When the upper body is complete, we’ll join everything together and will begin working the body of the cardigan. This will be a series of gansey style knit/purl stitch patterns worked in stripes. The stitch patterns can be repeated if you would like to add extra length.

When we return to the sleeves, we will work them in the round from the top down, using short rows to shape the sleeve caps. The central gansey stitch from the saddle will continue to be worked down the length of the sleeve. A short sleeve version will work just a short amount of short rows to shape the sleeve cap before binding off.

Yarn Details

I’ve used our own ‘Nua Sport’ yarn for this cardigan. The soft combination of merino, yak and linen in a lighter weight makes it an ideal yarn for in-between weather. It’s soft enough to wear next to your skin and not so heavy that it’s overpowering when the weather turns milder.

The second version use BC Garn BIO Balance. Note this weight is listed as fingering on Ravelry, which doesn’t match the suggested needle size and gauge. It is a little lighter than Nua Sport, but it knits up to the gauge fairly easily. This option is going to be what we knit the summer top version in, as it’s a better yarn combination for warm weather knits being 55% wool and 45% cotton. (There is a possibility that you will have to knit it a bit more loosely to get gauge, so don’t skip the gauge square!)

Knit-along Schedule

During the Torc knit-along, each section of the pattern is a secret and released on the below schedule. As each section is released, you’ll get the updated pattern details and tutorials for the released section.

All PDFs will be uploaded to your Teachable library under the resource section according to the schedule below. If you purchased the pattern on Stolen Stitches or Ravelry, we will also send you a pattern update with the next clue.

Note that the pattern needs to be purchased separately from the yarn kit.

• Yarn Kits on Sale: 11th April, 2024, 8pm Irish time (3pm EST) here (Link will not be live until this time.)
• Clue 1: 8th May, 2024–it all kicks off!
• Clue 2: 23rd May, 2024.
• Clue 3: 6th June, 2024.
• Final Prize: 20th June, 2024–Raffle drawing for the grand prize from images posted on Knithub.

How to Join the Torc Knit-along

Click on THIS LINK at 8pm Irish Time on Thursday April 11th and you can nab the shawl pattern. This link will not be live until this time.

Kits can be purchased HERE after 8pm on Thursday April 11th.

Once you purchase, you will receive an email with all the information for this year’s spring knit-along.

Knit-along FAQ

Do I have to use the yarn provided?

No! We encourage everyone who would like to join in the knit-along to do so with yarn they love. We provide yarn kits and recommendations that the patterns are designed for, but you can choose yarn from your stash or local yarn shop if you prefer. All you need to join the KAL is to purchase the pattern here.

How does the knit-along work?

For our spring KAL, the pattern is known in advance and the choice is up to you which version you choose. From here, the pattern is released in a series of clues so that we can all knit each section together. This works well for those who have a problem finishing garments or knitting garments that fit their body shape. Each clue release we take an in-depth look at that particular section and chat about tips and modifications that accompany the step-by-step video series included with the KAL.

Where can I ask questions about the spring KAL?

We have a dedicated chat thread within our online community in Knithub. There are also dedicated support comments under each video tutorial, as well as our YouTube lives that run during the KAL. You can choose a space that feels comfortable for you.