Eleonora: A Complete Guide to Knitting the DROPS 146-37 Lace Cardigan

There are some knitting patterns that feel timeless the moment you first lay eyes on them. Eleonora, the lace cardigan from DROPS Design pattern 146-37, is exactly that kind of pattern. With its delicate openwork panels, elegant silhouette, and the satisfying rhythm of lace knitting, this is a project that rewards patience and skill with a garment you will want to wear for years. Whether you are an experienced lace knitter looking for your next meaningful project or an adventurous intermediate knitter ready to step up your technique, Eleonora is a pattern worth understanding deeply before you cast on your first stitch.

In this guide, we are going to walk through everything you need to know about this pattern — from yarn choices and sizing to lace technique tips and finishing details — so that your version of Eleonora turns out as beautiful as the one in the original DROPS photograph.

What Is the DROPS 146-37 Eleonora Pattern?

DROPS Design is a Norwegian yarn and pattern company that has been publishing free knitting patterns for decades. Their pattern collections are known for being stylish, well-constructed, and genuinely free to download from their website, which makes them beloved by knitters around the world. The 146-37 designation refers to the specific catalog and pattern number, placing Eleonora in the DROPS 146 collection.

Eleonora is a women’s cardigan featuring a lace pattern on the body and sleeves, worked flat with set-in sleeves. The cardigan has a classic, slightly fitted silhouette with a straight bottom hem, button bands, and a neat round or V-shaped neckline depending on your preferred interpretation of the pattern notes. The lace design itself is an openwork mesh of yarn-overs and decreases that creates a light, airy fabric perfect for layering in spring and autumn.

What makes Eleonora stand out among free knitting patterns is the combination of elegance and wearability. This is not a cardigan that sits in a drawer because it is too precious or too delicate. It is the kind of garment you reach for on a cool morning when you want to feel put-together without trying too hard.

Yarn Recommendations for Eleonora

The original DROPS pattern calls for DROPS Alpaca, a sport-weight yarn that is a blend of fine alpaca and wool. This yarn is widely available from Garnstudio retailers worldwide and is well-suited to lace knitting because of its slight halo, which softens the look of the openwork, and its lightweight drape, which allows the lace to open up beautifully when blocked.

If you are substituting yarn — which many knitters do, either for budget reasons or because they have a particular stash yarn in mind — the most important factors to consider are fiber content, weight, and twist.

Fiber content matters a great deal in lace knitting. Animal fibers like wool, alpaca, silk, and their blends are generally the best choices because they have memory and elasticity, which helps the yarn-overs and decreases maintain their shape. Blocking is also more effective with natural fibers. Cotton and linen can work in lace, but they lack the stretch and memory that makes this kind of openwork pop, so the finished result tends to look flatter and less defined.

Yarn weight is equally important. Eleonora is designed for a sport-weight yarn, and knitting it with a heavier yarn would dramatically alter the drape and the gauge, making the finished garment stiff and heavy rather than flowing and light. If anything, you can go slightly lighter — a fingering weight yarn at a looser gauge can create an even more delicate effect — but moving up in weight is generally not advisable unless you are recalculating the entire pattern.

Twist is a more subtle consideration, but it matters. A lightly twisted or singles yarn will create a softer, more blurred lace definition. A tightly twisted yarn will give you sharper, more architectural-looking openwork. DROPS Alpaca is a moderately twisted yarn, so if you want to match the original look closely, aim for something in that middle ground.

Some popular yarn substitutes that knitters have used successfully for this pattern include Cascade Heritage Sock, Rowan Fine Art, Malabrigo Sock, and Lang Yarns Merino 120. When substituting, always swatch generously and wash and block your swatch before measuring gauge.

Sizes and Gauge

Eleonora is available in a generous range of sizes, which is one of the things that makes DROPS patterns so appealing. The pattern covers sizes from XS up to XXL and beyond, with specific measurements listed in the original pattern for each size. Before you cast on, it is absolutely essential that you identify which size corresponds to your actual measurements, paying particular attention to the finished chest circumference and the ease the pattern builds in.

The recommended gauge for this pattern is typically 22 stitches and 30 rows over 10 centimeters in stockinette stitch, though you should always refer to the current pattern on the DROPS website for the exact gauge recommendation, as this can vary slightly between printings. For lace patterns, gauge swatching can be tricky because lace fabrics change significantly after blocking. Always block your gauge swatch — yes, even the swatch — before measuring it.

To block a swatch, wet it thoroughly in cool water, press out the excess moisture gently without wringing, and then pin it out to its approximate finished dimensions on a blocking mat or folded towels. Allow it to dry completely before measuring. The difference between an unblocked and a blocked swatch in a lace pattern can be significant, sometimes a full centimeter or more per 10 centimeters of fabric.

If your gauge is off, adjust your needle size rather than trying to compensate mathematically. Go up a needle size if your fabric is too tight and your stitch count is higher than called for, and go down a needle size if your fabric is too loose. It may take two or three swatches to nail the gauge, but the effort is worth it when the cardigan comes out fitting exactly as intended.

Understanding the Lace Pattern

The lace in Eleonora is based on a repeating motif that combines yarn-overs with knit-two-together and slip-slip-knit decreases to create the openwork mesh. If you have not knitted lace before, or if you have only worked simple eyelets, the idea of a more complex repeat can feel intimidating. But the reality is that most knitting lace, once you understand what the symbols on the chart mean, follows a very logical internal rhythm.

DROPS Design publishes their patterns with both written instructions and knitting charts. If you are new to reading lace charts, this pattern is an excellent place to start because the chart is relatively straightforward and the repeat is manageable. Charts show each stitch and row as a symbol on a grid, and once you know what each symbol means — an empty square for knit, a circle for yarn-over, a right-leaning diagonal slash for k2tog, a left-leaning one for ssk — you can follow along visually row by row.

One key principle in balanced lace is that the number of yarn-overs in any given row must equal the number of decreases, so that the total stitch count stays constant. When you are in the middle of a lace repeat and something feels off, this is the first thing to check. Count your yarn-overs, count your decreases, and make sure they balance.

Using stitch markers between lace repeats is one of the most valuable habits you can develop. Place a marker at the beginning of each repeat as you go, and you will immediately know when a repeat is giving you trouble because the count between markers will be off. This saves enormous amounts of time compared to trying to troubleshoot a full row of knitting after the fact.

Lifelines are another essential technique for lace knitting. A lifeline is a thin piece of smooth, contrasting yarn that you thread through all the live stitches on your needle after completing a row. If you make a mistake later on and need to rip back, you rip only to the lifeline, and all your stitches are safely held. For a project like Eleonora, consider inserting a lifeline every ten rows or so, or at least at the beginning of each new pattern section.

Construction and Assembly

Eleonora is constructed in pieces and seamed, following a traditional flat construction method. You will knit a back piece, two front pieces, and two sleeves separately, and then join them at the shoulders and sew the sleeve and side seams. For knitters who prefer seamless construction, this can feel like extra work, but there are real advantages to the traditional approach, particularly for a fitted garment with set-in sleeves.

The seams in a set-in-sleeve cardigan add structure and help the fabric hold its shape at the shoulder and underarm. A well-sewn mattress stitch seam in a lace fabric is nearly invisible and creates a lovely clean line. If you have not practiced mattress stitch, this project is a great motivation to learn it. The technique involves picking up the horizontal bars between the edge stitches on alternating pieces and pulling the yarn to draw the edges together, creating a seam that lies flat and looks tidy from the outside.

When seaming lace fabric, be gentle and avoid pulling too tightly. The lace needs a little give to continue draping naturally through the seam area.

The button bands are picked up and knitted along the front edges after the body is assembled. DROPS patterns typically give a stitch pickup ratio, but even so, it helps to physically count the rows along your front edge and do a little math to make sure your pickup ratio will give you a band that lies flat — not pulling in, which causes the front to pucker, and not so loose that it ruffles. A well-executed button band makes a dramatic difference in the professional appearance of the finished cardigan.

Blocking Your Eleonora

Blocking is perhaps the single most transformative step in lace knitting. Before blocking, a finished lace piece often looks somewhat sad — a bit bunched, with the openwork not fully visible and the fabric appearing uneven. After blocking, the same piece looks like it belongs in a magazine.

To block Eleonora, fill a basin or your bathtub with cool to lukewarm water and fully submerge the finished cardigan. Allow it to soak for at least 20 to 30 minutes so the fibers can fully absorb the water. Do not agitate the fabric. Gently press the water out — never wring or twist — and then roll the cardigan in a clean towel to remove excess moisture.

Lay the cardigan out on blocking mats or thick towels on a flat surface. Use pins or blocking wires to pin the edges into the correct shape, pulling the lace panels open gently to reveal the full pattern. Use your pattern schematic as a guide for the target dimensions of each section.

If you are using blocking wires, thread them through the edge stitches along straight edges before pinning, as this gives you a smoother line than pinning individually every few centimeters. Allow the cardigan to dry completely — which may take a full day or more depending on your yarn and your home’s humidity — before removing the pins or wires.

The transformation is genuinely magical, and it is one of those moments in knitting that never gets old no matter how many lace projects you have blocked.

Tips for Success

A few additional thoughts for knitters preparing to cast on their Eleonora:

Read the entire pattern before you start. This sounds obvious, but it is genuinely one of the best habits in knitting. Understanding where the project is headed helps you make better decisions at each step and avoids the unpleasant surprise of discovering a construction detail you were not expecting when you are already halfway through a sleeve.

Keep a project journal or use an app to track your row counts, needle sizes, and any modifications you make. If you need to replicate something — like when you start the second sleeve and need to match the first — having those notes is invaluable.

Do not rush the cast-on edge. A neat, even cast-on sets the tone for the entire project. For a pattern like Eleonora, a long-tail cast-on gives a clean, slightly elastic edge that works beautifully at the hem.

Give yourself permission to take breaks during complex lace rows. Lace knitting is absorbing and satisfying, but it also requires attention. Knitting a tricky repeat when you are tired or distracted is the fastest path to a mistake that costs you a frustrating hour of ripping back and re-knitting.

Finally, trust the pattern. DROPS Design has tested these patterns extensively, and when something feels confusing, the answer is usually in the notes or the chart key. Their website also has a helpful errata section and an active comment thread for many patterns where other knitters share their questions and solutions.

Why Eleonora Is Worth the Effort

In a world of fast fashion and disposable clothing, there is something quietly radical about knitting a garment for yourself. Eleonora takes time — depending on your speed and the size you are knitting, it may be a project of weeks or even months — but the result is something entirely singular. It is made in your exact size, in a yarn you chose, in a color that suits your wardrobe, and every stitch was placed there by your own hands.

The lace in Eleonora catches the light in a way that no printed fabric can replicate. The drape of a well-chosen alpaca yarn gives it a softness against the skin that synthetic fabrics simply do not achieve. And when you wear it and someone asks where you got it, you get to say you made it yourself.

That combination of beauty, craftsmanship, and personal pride is what keeps knitters coming back to patterns like this one. Eleonora is not just a cardigan — it is an experience, a practice, and ultimately a small work of art that you get to wear every day.

Whether you are knitting it in a soft dove grey for a classic look, a warm terracotta for autumn, or a deep midnight blue for year-round versatility, Eleonora rewards the attention you bring to it. Cast on with care, knit with patience, and enjoy every step of the process. The finished cardigan will be worth every one of them.

You can find the free original DROPS 146-37 Eleonora pattern, including the full chart and all size options, on the DROPS Design website at garnstudio.com. Always check the current version of the pattern for the most up-to-date instructions and any corrections.