You can knit it as long as you want to......edited June 26

Rebecca has left a new comment on your post "Customizing your Hibiscus Cardigan......":

So glad you posted this because this was the very reason I was hesitant about the pattern. The pattern is gorgeous but I just didn't think it would look right on my body type.......hmmmmm.....off to ponder this some. I REALLY love this pattern!

like my new tape measure? It's a V&A tape measure purchased at Shall We Knit in New Hamburg.......love it! It's really good to use a metal tape measure because metal never stretches.......

So both Ellen and Rebecca want to knit their Hibiscus cardigan longer.......with your swatch and a few calculations this should be easy.....

Ellen indicated to me that she wanted to make her sweater about 3" longer.........

NOTE: As I do not intend to give specifics here of the pattern instruction, you may not totally understand the following -- you might need to have the pattern in front of you to relate to. I'm not sure as I do have the pattern in front of me LOL!!!

EDITED SATURDAY, JUNE 26 - OBVIOUSLY MATH ISN'T MY STRONG POINT......I was doing the calculations to make my Hibiscus Cardi a little longer, and nothing was working out -- realized that I was working with the wrong numbers LOL!!!

Looking at the pattern chart -- it's 50 rows total in the repeat, and there are 3 different motifs in the full repeat.

50 rows at 8 rows to the inch = 6.25 inches, or 16 cms

I'm still more comfortable with inches (showing my age here LOL!) so, breaking this down to the different motifs that make up the repeat........

The large flower OXO is 19 rows, measuring 2.5 inches
The twirly peerie type motif is 9 rows and measures.....1.125 inches
The small flower border, rows is 12 rows, and measures ....1.5 inches
The twirly peerie type motif is 9 rows and measures.....1.125 inches

Note:   These measurements are fudged and rounded up/off to make them workable.....the true gauge is measured over the full 50 row repeat.

so that a full repeat is 6.25 inches -

After completing your two-colour garter stitch edging, the pattern calls for you to complete a specified number of rounds to take you to the armhole opening. Per the schematic, these rounds, with the garter stitch border, measure 10". This is where you swatch comes in handy.....

If you are getting the requested gauge of 32 rows to 10cm/4inches on your swatch (that's 8 rows per inch), and you want to add 3 inches to the length of the body of the sweater, you need to knit 3 x 8 = 24 additional rows before the armhole point.

When you have completed your swatch -- if you aren't getting the 8 rows per inch gauge, you can adjust your calculations to match your gauge.

Looking at the photograph on the cover of the design, you'll see that the sweater body starts with the larger OXO flower motif....and I really like how that combines with the two-colour garter stitch edging for a strong statement at the bottom of the sweater......so I'd suggest that to add 3 inches to the body, you follow the instruction as written, just knitting 24 additional rows before following the armhole steek instructions.

Sounds simple enough right???

What also changes is where the pattern will end at the shoulder line.....you can also figure out where that is going to fall now. Reading your pattern, you'll see how many rows are required to complete the armhole opening. Where does the motif fall at the shoulder now?

Some knitters are determined that their shoulder lines are half motifs that seam together to make a full motif at the shoulder line. Other's don't care so much. So this is knitter's choice -- if you have specific requirements about how your shoulder motifs line up -- you have to take this into consideration also.

So, next time I'll show you how to figure this out - if you haven't figured it out yourself by then!

Happy Knitting,

Anne