Car Cardi in BC Garn Semilla Grosso - 5077BC - Downloadable PDF

Car Cardi in BC Garn Semilla Grosso – Pattern Summary (No. 5077BC)

The Car Cardi is a charming children's cardigan designed by Ann Højgaard Slot and published by BC Garn as pattern number 5077BC. This free, downloadable PDF pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty and is knitted using the distinctive shadow knitting technique, which creates a hidden motif — in this case, a car design — that appears when the fabric is viewed from an angle. It makes for a visually playful and technically engaging project, ideal for knitters ready to move beyond basic colorwork.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a children's cardigan featuring a car motif worked in shadow knitting across the back, sleeves, and pocket. It is sized for children aged 4, 6, and 8 years, with the following approximate finished measurements:

• Chest: 68 (74) 80 cm
• Length: 40 (44) 48 cm
• Sleeve length: 35 (38) 41 cm

The cardigan features a front button band and is finished with 7 buttons — the pattern cheekily suggests perhaps 5 green and 2 blue, adding a playful, mismatched detail in keeping with the fun car theme.

Techniques Used

Shadow knitting is the central technique of this pattern. Also known as illusion knitting, shadow knitting uses alternating rows of two colours combined with a sequence of knit and purl stitches to create a design that is hidden when viewed straight on but becomes clearly visible when the fabric is seen from an angle or in raking light. This technique requires careful attention to colour changes and row sequencing, which is why the pattern is classified as intermediate.

Additional techniques used in this pattern include:

• Working in the round on double pointed needles and circular needles
• Shaping — including increases and decreases for sleeves, armholes, and neckline
• Mirroring — the left side and front are worked in the same way as the right, with shaping reversed
• Pocket construction — a separate pocket piece is worked using chart C3
• Button band finishing along the front opening

Stitches Used

The pattern relies on a combination of fundamental knitting stitches arranged to produce the shadow knitting effect. Stitches referenced in the pattern include:

• Knit (K) — the primary stitch used throughout
• Purl (P) — alternated with knit stitches to create the illusion rows in shadow knitting
• K2tog (Knit two together) — a standard right-leaning decrease used for shaping
• YO (Yarn Over) — used to create eyelets, likely for buttonholes or decorative detail

The pattern tension is 14 stitches × 26 rows = 10 × 10 cm in shadow knitting on 6 mm needles, which reflects the characteristic row-dense nature of shadow knitting fabric.

Charts Included

The pattern includes three charts to guide the shadow knitting motifs:

• C1 — the car motif in shadow knitting, used on the back
• C2 — the sleeve motif
• C3 — the pocket motif

Yarn and Materials

The pattern is written specifically for Semilla Grosso by BC Garn, a chunky-weight yarn. The yardage requirements per size are:

• 250 (250) 300 g in colour ob132 (light green) — used as the ground colour (Gr.col.)
• 200 (