Laika

£5.00

My goals when designing Laika were simple. So often in warmer weather I find myself reaching for the store bought cardigans in my wardrobe over the handknits because they’re thin enough to stuff in my bag. Lace can be delicate and girly, but it can also be simple and geometric and I love knitting on simple lace patterns because they grow so fast and mould to the body so well. Laika is the perfect cardigan to carelessly throw in your bag as an extra layer with any outfit, pretty but casual, lightweight but not too delicate.

Laika is available as an individual pattern and as part of the book Little Red in the City. Follow that link if you are interested in purchasing the whole book rather than just the Laika pattern, which can be purchased here.

Sizes
30[32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60]” bust
76[81, 86, 91, 97, 102, 107, 112, 117, 122, 127, 132, 137, 142, 147, 153] cm bust

Yarn
Fingering or heavy laceweight yarn with a suggested gauge of 7-9 sts per inch / 2.5cm. The garter stitch borders are worked with the yarn held double so it will have enough structure using less sturdy yarns than sock yarn, although more loosely spun yarns will obviously be less durable. The stitch patterns used are very stretchy and can be worked successfully in fairly inelastic yarns, but only those that are lightweight, anything too heavy like cotton will cause the sweater to stretch out of shape and won’t bounce back. Other than the recommended wool blend, cashmere and alpaca blends would also be good choices. My original prototype for Laika was actually worked in a lofty cashmere laceweight, it doesn’t look so great anymore, but it’s wonderfully snuggly.

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock (80% wool, 20% nylon, 435yds / 398m, 3.53oz / 100g).

Ysolda’s version in Ysolda Red and Amanda’s in Blackberry.

1395[1480, 1520, 1675, 1740, 1795, 1890, 1980, 2055, 2145, 2235, 2300, 2360, 2450, 2555, 2640] yards
1275[1355, 1390, 1530, 1590, 1640, 1730, 1810, 1880, 1960, 2045, 2105, 2160, 2240, 2335, 2415] metres

Needles and Notions
US 3 / 3.25mm circular, a 24” / 60cm needle can be used for the body of the sweater, but was difficult for the edging, make things easy on yourself and use a 32” / 80cm or longer needle.
US 3 / 3.25mm for your preferred method of working small circumferences in the rnd.
Scrap yarn for holding sts.
Stitch markers.
5/8” / 15-18mm buttons – 20 for sizes 30-34, 22 for sizes 36-46, 24 for sizes 48+

Gauge
20 sts and 32 rows = 4” / 10cm in mesh pattern worked flat.

Note: Measure gauge after blocking – lightly stretch just enough to open up the stitch pattern but do not stretch out as much as possible as you might for a lace shawl