The Timepiece Cardigan

The Timepiece Cardigan
pattern available here

Considering my interests in things such as bicycles, knitting, analogue photography, and fountain pens, it perhaps will not surprise anyone to learn that I am also into vintage mechanical watches. The idea for this cardigan design came to me as a result of that interest.

I had acquired a book on the the golden era of watch-making. It is beautifully illustrated with historical photos, many of which showed something interesting… Knitwear. Lots and lots of knitwear, starting with the very early sport-cardigans, which slowly evolved into the more iconically recognisable cricket and tennis sweaters, seemingly in parallel to the evolvement of the wrist-watch.

Taking my eyes off the book, I looked down at my watch (naturally, I was wearing one!), and in my mind’s eye envisioned a cardigan that evoked the feel of this so-called Golden Era, whilst also deconstructing it. I then felt compelled to knit immediately.

I saw what it needed to be so clearly: V-neck. Pockets. Vertical button-bands. Not fond of traditional v-necks with picked-up edgings, I had long wanted to try an integrated v-neck button-band design, and this was the perfect opportunity.

The idea to add optional ‘tennis stripes’ came to me only later. I was wearing my Trasnu hat - a tartan design where the vertical lines are made after the hat has been knitted, using a simple crochet technique. So I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to try this same technique to add vertical stripes along the Purl columns of the vertical button band. After finishing the cardigan, I gave this a try and found it surprisingly quick.

Best of all, I thought, the ‘tennis stripes’ can be easily and quickly removed if the wearer tires of them.

The aesthetic of the sweater changes quite a bit depending on whether the stripes are there or not, alternating between fun/sporty/playful and classic/ subtle/ sophisticated.

The knitting of the first sample happened so quickly, I hardly had time to consider how I would construct the pockets. So they sort of happened on their own.

I do not want to include images here that gives away the construction, but it is a fairly interesting method, whereby the pockets are integrated into the hem, and can be made either top-loading and side-loading.

So far I have tried the design in two weights of Donegal Tweed (the mushroom sample is Aran-weight, and the Emerald sample is DK), as well as in Honer och Eir Nutiden (held double).

While the tweed gives the cardigan a very traditional tennis-sweatery look, the Nutiden version has a more contemporary feel, while perhaps also evoking the 1990s grunge aesthetic.

The idea is that the pattern can be knitted in a wide variety of yarns, and the choice of yarn will in large part determine the decade/ aesthetic that the finished product will evoke.

Unable to choose between Aran-weight and DK-weight, I eventually decided to do both. So in fact there are two versions of the design, and both are included in the pattern purchase as separate files.

In the end, this pattern is not so much about watches, as it is about time. While I think the word ‘timeless’ tends to get overused when it comes to design - and especially clothing design - I have made it a goal for some time to build versatility into my pattern writing, so that the same pattern can be reused with different trends and aesthetics in mind.

From the pattern page:

'…When researching the history of knitwear, I notice time and again the parallels with the history of horology - which has long been one of my interests.

This link is not coincidental. At the turn of the 20th Century, the ways in which the average person would spend their time began to change categorically, with sport and leisure activities gaining prominence. It was in response to these changes that both the watchmaking and the knitwear industries evolved 
over the following decades. 


Inspired by this shared history, the Timepiece Cardigan is a time-traveller. The versatile design blends 20th Century references - from the tennis cardigans of the 1920s to Kurt Cobain’s infamous MTV Unplugged sweater - whilst offering a contemporary silhouette that plants it firmly in the present time. It is in equal measure a nod to the dawn of the cardigan, and a stipulation about its future.’