Louise Labé, the French female Renaissance poet, was also called "La Belle Cordière" (The Beautiful Ropemaker). This gorgeous cardigan, designed by Sarah Mombert, with its large cabled borders, bears her name.

The cardigan is knitted bottom up. The body (back and fronts) is worked in one piece to the armholes. Note the exquisit detail of the cabled yoke that is worked from the front shoulders over to the back where it's assembled with the back below the neckline. The sleeves are knitted separately and sewn to the armholes.

The pattern is written for 7 sizes, with a finished bust circumference of 82/ 91/ (101/ 111/ 122)/ 134/ 146 cm [32"/ 36"/ (40"/ 44"/ 48")/ 53"/57.5"]. You can choose between the longer version, designed with people taller than 170 cm in mind (this is the version shown in the pictures), or a shorter version.

The cabled border is shown in chart form only.

The two cardigans in the pictures were knitted in Cascade 220 Heathers; 100% wool; 201 m (220 yds) per 100g skein.

Among the yarns available in my shop, the DK weight merino is a perfect fit for this pattern. You will need 12/ 12/ (14/ 14/ 16)/ 16/ 18 balls for the longer version and 12/ 12/ (12/ 14/ 14)/ 16/ 16 balls for the shorter version.

Recommended needle: a 4 mm (US 6) circular needle (using a 5 mm/US 8 needle for the cast-on), or the needle size required to get gauge.

Gauge: 10 cm/4" = 20 sts and 27 rows in stockinette with 4 mm needles.

This product contains only the pattern for the design, sold as a downloadable pdf-file.