Finished Upsized Ms. Darcy Cardigan

Just before the start of the long weekend, I finished my NaKniSweMo sweater, the wonderful Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. I modeled my sweater after the bottom-up seamless version by Wakendaknits, but added my own modifications to upsize it and change the neckline.

Ravelry: Joyuna's Ms. Darcy
Yarn used: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, colorway Jewel Blue, 4.5 skeins
Size: 41" bust
Post-washing Gauge: 4.9 sts x 8 rows = 1 inch (my fabric grew pretty significantly with washing, so all my numbers are based on a washed swatch. It turned out perfectly, so I strongly suggest you swatch and wash the swatch!)

There are two sizes of this pattern readily available on the internet - the original, which has a 34" bust, and Wakenda's 38" version. I'm publishing my own upsized mods so that hopefully more people will be able to knit this smashing sweater even if they're not comfortable with doing the math.

My version is upsized, has 5 buttons, has a moderate scoop neck, and longer and bigger sleeves for my large upper arms.

My mods
CO 200 sts - 100 for the back, 50 for each side - place markers separating them.
Knit 8 rows garter st
Change to stockinette, with a 4-st garter st border
After 4th row of stockinette, knit a buttonhole (every 12 rows)
Buttonhole: K1, k2tog, DYO
20 rows of stockinette (dec 4 sts on 9th and 15th rows for waist shaping - 1 st on either side of each marker)
25 rows of twisted rib
11 rows of stockinette
5 buttonholes worked before neckline decreases
Neckline decreases: Dec every row 7 times
Dec every other row 10 times
(work vertical bust darts as needed at the same time - 8 sts on each side for me)

For my version of Mrs Darcy, I aimed for a happy medium between Mary Weaver's neckline and Wakenda's - the scoop neck of the original pattern was what made me love it originally, but for my bust a really dramatic scoop just wouldn't work. Wakendaknits' sweater's neckline is much higher, and mine is somewhere in between, which I'm very happy with.

Work sleeves:
CO 53 sts on size 6s
Work 40 rounds in twisted rib
Switch to 7s; work 12 rounds of stockinette
Next row, increase on either side of bottom 2 sts
Continue inc’ing every 10 rows, 9 times until 70 sts.
Knit 11 rounds, then put the center 16 sts on hold - 16 underarm sts

Join sleeves to body, putting center 16 sts around markers on hold.
From here on, I followed Wakenda's pattern almost exactly - just make sure that by the time you've gotten to the grafting, all the sleeve stitches have been decreased away. I think I did a couple rows with extra decreases in order to get rid of my extra sleeve stitches. The nice thing about this section of the sweater is that it's very easy to try it on and see if you're getting the shape you want.

Follow the rest of Wakenda's pattern, keeping in mind that this version has 4 sts of garter border instead of 5.

There you have it!

~Joyuna