Folklore Sweater by Lion Brand Review… AKA the Taylor Swift Cardigan
Hey everyone! I did an update on this after having it for a few years. Check it out here!
I have wanted the Taylor Swift cardigan since I saw it.
I’m in no way a full-on Swiftie, but when she releases an album I give it a listen because there’s always some good songs… I don’t know if it was quarantine or my new gardening obsession but something about the album just hit me and I loved it. I was actually considering buying the cardigan, but, like most things I see off the rack, there were some issues.
First off, sizing. I love that they put the size she’s wearing in the music video, but if she’s wearing a medium/large I knew the x-large/xx-large wouldn’t fit me, let alone give me the baggy vibe that I wanted. They’ve now added another size, which is good, but I think it should have been done off the bat. Also, the size chart doesn’t list the new size so I’d still be ordering on blind hope.
Secondly, there’s the issue of fibre. I realize acrylic and polyester have their place, but for me, that place isn’t in a $50 store-bought sweater.
Third, the embellishments. Again, I am not a Swiftie. I really like that her merch is thinking beyond the band tee to a classic cardigan that can be worn for years to come. The thing is, I don’t know if I’m in a Taylor Swift merch place. Even if I was, I would not want the emblem or the stars in silver. I look good in both, but I just really want these to be gold, or as it turned out, not there at all.
This might seem nitpicky, but when you stop buying clothes and start making clothes, these little details that seem small suddenly become deal breakers.
When this sweater first came out I attempted to figure out how to knit it, but I just don’t have enough experience with sweater knitting, nor with cables. Much like Holiday House, I’ve been patiently waiting for someone to work it out. Lion Brand has officially come through, and, even better, it’s a free pattern.
Just a note, this post is going to use some affiliate links. For more information, check out my affiliate link and sponsorship disclaimer.
I had some leftover Rico Creative Cotton Aran in Natural, and when I was first determined to knit this I had picked up some skeins of black. I want to say I’m going for cotton in this because I think she did the synthetics for veganism and I want to keep that spirit, but really I just had it from a project that I made and didn’t like. I do also appreciate cotton for washability and overall comfort. I live in Ireland and summers tend to be a bit chillier so I’m hoping this will be perfect for sitting outside at night or wrapping myself in after a swim.
The issue with using leftover yarn is I’m not 100% sure how much of it I have. I figure that a commercial yarn in a natural colourway shouldn’t have a dye lot issue but you never know. My end plan if I do need to buy more yarn is to either dye it beige to even it out or do some tea dying to just stain it the same without really colouring it. Luckily, I didn’t need to use that. I have about 3 meters left of it, but it came together with just enough.
Like in any wearable knit project, gauge must be taken. There was a bit of tragedy when I discovered that I didn’t have the 5.5mm needles this project calls for. I have a 5.5mm cable needle, 5.5mm double points, but no circular tips. I made a gauge swatch and determined with 5mm needles I’m a centimetre below gauge, but with 6mm I’m a centimetre above.
My bust is 127cm. The second size bust in this pattern is 134.5, and the third size is 152.5cm. I could easily fit the second size, and my vanity kind of wants to but I know I want a LOT of ease in this sweater. So, I ultimately decided to do the biggest size, but on the smaller needle. I tend to like a tighter fabric so I’ll like the actual look of it better. I don’t exactly 100% understand how gauge works, but I’m thinking maybe if I lose a centimetre over every ten centimetres then I should be taking 15ish cm off overall which would give me a 137cm sweater, which is 10cm positive ease which turned out to give me a sweater that is definitely super baggy and comfy.
This pattern can seem super intimidating because you’re managing four different kinds of cables. I set up a stitch counter for each one and I’ve been going slow and easy. A lot of patterns I can just use my phone, but I ended up printing this one because it’s SO much more manageable. I’m really happy I decided to place stitch markers at the beginning and end of every cable, as well as different stitch markers to differentiate the sections in parentheses. I added about 5cm onto the body and a lot more onto the sleeves- I was knitting and got a bit carried away! It ended up working because I can kind of ball the ends of them up in my first for max cosiness.
The shaping on the armhole was a bit… concerning. You decrease into the cables but it doesn’t tell you how to account for that. Do you cable but just a little? Do you just drop the cable and do a stockinette section?
I was concerned I hadn’t cabled enough into it, but it ended up being fine once it was seamed.
Another consideration for the cabling was the sleeves. The pattern tells you to add cabling sections as you increase the number of stitches in the sleeves. I skipped this and opted to just do the main cable section with moss stitch on either side. I definitely think this contributed to the bagginess of the sleeves. In any other situation I might be a bit perturbed but since this was meant to be a kind of threw it on before heading to the campfire fit I think it worked well enough.
I’m not sure I’m 100% sold on the cotton. It’s made it very, very drape-y and I’m not sure the collar sections are laying as well as they could. I might make this in wool again one day, but as it is I really do love this cardigan and I’d recommend this pattern. Now I just need to find a campfire to wear it beside…
I made a video to accompany this project for those of you that are more visual focused!
