Lucy cardigan pattern

I love realistic looking doll clothes and that also applies to knitted garments. And here are two new patterns that follow my motto that every detail counts.

They are miniature replicas of a 1930-40s cardigan with an argyle pattern! It is a traditional style which has been interpreted in various forms in human and doll clothing for decades.

This cardigan started a few years ago when I decided to make something 1940s for my A Girl for All Time Clementine. I am usually not very much into this era (though I am getting increasingly interested in it so you can expect more 1940s patterns!) but I wanted something special for her. And definitely green to match Clem’s beautiful green eyes.

You may remember that first cardigan as I have shown it a lot. Clem even wore it on her trip to The Lake District nearly 2 years ago. Many people have asked me to make it into a pattern – at a time when I didn’t even make patterns. But here it is – finally!

I decided to modify the cardigan a bit from the first version. So, I made it a bit longer, with wider ribbing and more fitted sleeves that have a 1940s feel about them. I still used exactly the same yarn because this shade of green was just perfect for Clem.

Having decided to make a pattern for A Girl for All Time dolls, I realised that it was important to make a version for 18 inch dolls like American Girl, too.

Just to give you a glimpse into the process of creating knitting patterns: it took me quite some mathematical calculation and 3 attempts at knitting to get a perfect fit, so a lot of work has gone into these patterns.

Every detail counts. That is the rule I always follow when making my doll clothes. Both cardigans are knitted from the same Palette fingering yarn which comes in over a hundred different colours and can easily be bought in the US from Knitpicks and in the UK from Great British Yarns. For the A Girl for All Time version I used 1.5 mm (#000) knitting needles while for the 18-inch one it was the more common 2 mm (#0) size.

Both cardigans have seed stitch pattern over their shoulders. In addition, the front can be decorated with optional running stitch embroidery outlining the argyle pattern. The diamonds of the argyle pattern itself look like flowers and can be knitted in any colours.

If you are not comfortable with doing the stranded knitting, these patterns come with a second option of knitting a plain cardigan (which, by the way, looks gorgeous on its own!) and embroidering the design later using a duplicate stitch.

Both cardigans can be worn on their own or on top of another layer – a blouse, a t-shirt, a turtleneck or a dress.

The A Girl for All Time cardigan also fits Sasha dolls (as do most of my knitting patterns for these dolls).

The current two patterns fit two popular sizes: the 16-inch A Girl for All Time and Sasha dolls and the standard 18-inch dolls such as American Girl. However, I’ve been asked to re-size this pattern to fit 14-14.5 inch WellieWishers and Heart For Heart dolls, so I have put it on my list. I am also thinking about making it for yet another size: for Kidz’n’Cats, Carpatina, Gotz and Zwergnase Junior dolls (they are all pretty similar in their size). What do you think? Would you like me to make it for these dolls?

Finally, this pattern has been successfully tested by 3 of my wonderful testers. Below are some of their photographs. As you can see, the colour variations are endless and only your imagination is the limit! 

Click here to purchase #SS1940-K02: Lucy Cardigan for 16-inch dolls pattern in my Etsy shop


Click here to purchase #SS1940-K03: Lucy Cardigan for 18-inch dolls pattern in my Etsy shop

9 thoughts on “Lucy cardigan pattern

  1. The cardigan is beautiful, makes me wish I could knit! Would it be ok to buy the pattern and pass it on to someone who could knit it for me? Or at least knit it for my Matilda 😂 I love seeing your test knitters versions too

    1. Hi Belinda, thank you so much! Yes, it’s OK to buy the pattern and ask someone to make it for you. If you like, you can ask one of my testers to knit it for you, too. Some of them do accept custom orders. Please let me know if you would like me to put you in contact with one of them. http://www.swish-swirl.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_rose.gif

      1. Thank you, that would be great, I may have a friend locally that could help but I think most of my friends crochet. My grandmother tried many times to teach me to knit and although I remember the basics in theory, something always goes horribly wrong 😂 At least her attempts at teaching me to sew worked and I’m looking forward to digging out my sewing machine and trying some of your patterns once Matilda arrives. I enjoy quite a few different crafts but feel so bad that I come from a long line of knitters and yet following a pattern completely defeats me!

  2. Hi Olga, just thought I’d let you know, I dropped the pattern off to a friend this afternoon and she’s started making a plain version of the cardigan. Once it’s done, I can decide on decoration and sew the design in myself.

    I have another question about your Tudor dress pattern, this time… there seems to be three different patterns, but the pattern packs only have two – which pack would you recommend?

    Thank you

    1. Hi Belinda, that’s great!

      If you ever need someone to knit for you, here is one of my testers who does amazing job! https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/DollsBoutiqueTM

      If you mean the Tudor pattern for AGAT dolls, there are only 2 patterns. One is the full gown (#SS1530-01) and one for some extras to compliment the main pattern (#SS1530-02). This second pattern had a new bodice, a new French hood, foresleeves and some jewellery. The main pattern doesn’t have foresleeves. And the French hood in the second pattern is more historically accurate.

      So, one can buy:
      1) the main pattern separately
      2) the extras pattern separately (for those who already have the main pattern)
      3) the bundle of the extras pattern + the skirts from the main pattern (for those who don’t want to buy the main pattern but want these extras like foresleeves)
      4) the full bundle of the main pattern + the extras pattern (with a reduction in the total price – cheaper to buy them together than separately)

      Unless you want (4) I would recommend the (2) pack.

      1. I’ve just been a bit confused because in the pattern pack section, there’s one option to buy pattern 01 and 02 together and another option to buy patterns 02 and 03 together? 🤔

        I’ll see how my friend gets on with the cardigan, but I’ve also added Dolls Boutique to my favourites list 🙂👍

  3. Is there any chance you could provide measurements for an 11.5 inch doll? I’m trying to make this cardigan for a Barbie but I can’t find any online.

    1. Sorry, I don’t own any 11.5 inch dolls. This cardigan will definitely be way too big for Barbie and I don’t think it would be possible to resize it to fit. The dolls are completely different.

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