Truly Myrtle - Kapua Cardigan

The skies over the land of the long white cloud, Aotearoa New Zealand, are magnificent. Clean and vast, they remind us that we’re part of something greater, a tiny drop in the ocean of the universe.

Through our long, hot summer months, clouds tend to be few. Puffs of white float effortlessly through the intense blue, caught on the Pacific breeze that blows over our island. During winter, our skies are often threatening, hanging heavy with dramatic greys and charcoal and, where I live, in the north of Aotearoa, winter skies boom with thunder, flash with lightning and dark, misty clouds open with rain that seemingly never ends.

Below the drama we curl up warm and dry in our homes. Huddled by the glow of the fire we pull our loved ones and our woollens close and wait for the clouds to part and the rain to subside. And we knit.

Kapua is a gentle cloud. She is light and soft and sprinkled with the prettiest simple lace.

Seamlessly knitted from the top down with a graceful collar and buttonless i-cord front edge worked as you go, Kapua is solace from the storm and a delicious adventure on your needles.

Suitable for intermediate and experienced knitters, Kapua is full of beautiful details that create an ethereal finish.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS 
Sizes 1 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) {7, 8, 9, 10, 11}

Finished shoulder width 19 (20, 21, 22, 23, 24.25) {25.25, 26.25, 27.25, 28.25, 29.5}“/47.5 (50, 52.5, 55, 58, 60.5) {63, 65.5, 68.5, 71, 73.5} cm.

Measure your shoulders tip to tip and choose a size with a finished shoulder width approx. 6-8”/ 15-20.5 cm wider. It’ll drop a little further when worn.

Sample shown in size 3 on 36”/91.5 cm bust with approx. 7”/ 18 cm ease at the shoulder.

NEEDLES & NOTIONS 
US 4/3.5 mm circular needles; 16”/40 cm, 32”/ 80 cm and for knitting small circumferences. US 3/3.25 mm circular needle, 32”/80 cm. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain correct gauge.

3 stitch markers (1 removable), scrap yarn or spare needle for provisional cast-on, scrap yarn or stitch holder, small crochet hook or yarn needle.

YARN 
Approx. 5 (5, 5, 6, 6, 6) {6, 7, 7, 7, 7} skeins each of Shibui Knits Cima (70% superbaby alpaca/30% fine Merino, 328 yds/300 m per 50g skein) and Shibui Knits Silk Cloud (60% kid mohair/40% silk, 330 yds/302 m per 25g skein); both colourway “Ash”.

The sample used approx. 4. 5 skeins of each yarn held together throughout, including swatching.

If substituting yarn, experiment with lace-weight/ 3-ply yarn held double or a fingering-weight yarn.

GAUGE 
24 sts/37 rows = 4”/10 cm with US 4/3.5 mm needles in stockinette stitch, flat & in the round, with yarns held together, after blocking. 
23 sts/43 rows = 4”/10 cm with US 4/3.5 mm needles in lace pattern, flat, with yarns held together, after blocking