"Alice Cardigan" - Cardigan Knitting Pattern For Girls in Willow & Lark Nest

Alice Cardigan by Willow & Lark – Cable & Lace Girls' Cardigan Knitting Pattern in Nest DK Yarn

The Alice Cardigan is a beautifully detailed girls' knitting pattern from Willow & Lark's Fledgling Collection, designed specifically to be worked in Willow & Lark Nest yarn. This charming cable and lace cardigan combines a frilled, peplum-style lower edge with a structured two-stitch cable body pattern, creating a garment that feels both playful and elegant. It is rated as an intermediate difficulty pattern, making it an ideal next step for knitters who are comfortable with the basics and ready to explore more textured and decorative stitch work.

What Is Being Made

The Alice Cardigan is a seamed, fitted cardigan for girls, worked in pieces and joined. It features a distinctive peplum effect at the hem, achieved by adapting a lace panel from the companion Alice Dress design and gradually decreasing the lace section as the body rises. The result is a swishy, flared lower edge that transitions into a more fitted cable-patterned body. The cardigan is finished with 5 or 6 buttons depending on the size chosen, and the frilled edging adds a delicate, feminine touch throughout.

Sizes and Fit

The pattern is written to fit four sizes, covering girls aged approximately 2–3, 4–5, 6–7, and 8–9 years. The corresponding chest measurements to fit are 56, 61, 66, and 71 cm (22, 24, 26, and 28 inches), with actual garment measurements at the underarm of 63, 68, 74, and 79 cm (24¾, 26¾, 29¼, and 31 inches), providing a comfortable amount of ease. Lengths to shoulder range from 35 to 48 cm (13¾ to 19 inches), and sleeve seam lengths range from 23 to 35 cm (9 to 13¾ inches), ensuring a well-proportioned fit across all ages.

Techniques Used

• Cables: The body of the Alice Cardigan features a two-stitch cable pattern that runs through the main fabric. Cabling involves crossing groups of stitches over one another using a cable needle, creating raised, rope-like or twisted column effects in the knitted fabric. This technique adds both visual texture and a degree of structure to the garment.
• Lace: The lower peplum section incorporates a lace panel adapted directly from the Alice Dress pattern in the same Fledgling Collection. Lace knitting typically uses yarn-over increases paired with decreases to create deliberate holes and openwork patterns, giving fabric a light, airy, and decorative quality. In the Alice Cardigan, this lace panel is decreased gradually as the knitting progresses upward, transitioning the flared hem into the fitted cable body.
• Seamed construction: The cardigan is constructed using traditional seamed techniques, meaning the back, fronts, and sleeves are knitted as separate flat pieces and then sewn together. Seamed garments often have excellent structure and durability, and the seams themselves can add stability to the finished fabric.
• Flat knitting: All pieces are worked flat on straight needles, making this pattern accessible to knitters who prefer working back and forth in rows rather than in the round.

Stitches Used

• Stocking stitch – the foundational fabric of the body, worked in alternating knit and purl rows, providing a smooth, classic surface against which the cables and lace stand out clearly.
• Two-stitch cable pattern – a repeating cable motif worked across the main body sections above the peplum hem.
• Lace pattern – an openwork stitch pattern incorporating yarn-overs and decreases, used in the frilled lower edge and peplum section.
• Ribbing or edging stitches – used at cuffs, button bands, and finishing edges to provide neat, structured borders.

Materials – Yarn

The pattern is designed exclusively around Willow & Lark Nest, a luxurious