Jenny Jacket Pattern Review

Jenny Jacket by Petite Knit

For my second sweater, I had so many knitting patterns on my list to try.

Multiple versions of Petite Knit’s Jenny series were on the list – that’s how much I loved the look of this textured sweater!

(She has a Jenny sweater, a Jenny round-neck cardigan and a Jenny v-neck cardigan).

When I heard someone review the pattern and say it was a project that looked more difficult and fancy than it really is, I took the leap and decided it’d be my second sweater.

And thankfully, they were right.

I actually had an easier time knitting this, than the Lakes pullover… so maybe I’m starting to get the hang of knitting.

It just took a lot longer ha. This is a pretty time consuming project, due to all the texture and finishing details.

Here’s my notes on the Jenny Jacket pattern by Petite Knit, including the yarn I chose, tips I found helpful and modifications I made.

• Project Overview
• Yarn Used
• Difficulty Level
• Project Notes
• Tips
• Modifications
• Blocking
• Finished Object Thoughts

Jenny Jacket V-Neck

@shershegrows

handknit > everything else in my closet 🧶 #knittok #handknit #knittinginspiration #handknitcardigan

♬ original sound – Sher

Yarn

The pattern calls for 2 yarns held together:

• a fingering weight base wool and
• a lace weight halo yarn

I had spent quite a bit on yarn for my first sweater, the Lakes V-Neck, and while I loved the finished fabric, I made a lot of mistakes since it was my first knit.

So I figured until my knitting improved, I was better off buying more affordable yarn.

gauge swatching! on the left: wool + alpaca silk, on the right: just wool. I debated whether I wanted a more defined texture or to go with the softer, fuzzier texture the pattern called for

For the Jenny Jacket, I went with Drops by Garn Studio.

They’re a Norwegian yarn company known for incredibly affordable yarn, typically around $2-3 a ball.

A lot of people use them, because it’s an excellent price point for 100% wool yarn. The only problem is it’s a bit hard to get in the US.

You have to buy online and for a period of time in mid-2025, international retailers completely stopped shipping to the US due to the uncertainty around tariffs.

I really loved the iridescent look that the pattern sample sweater had – it was a light grey, but almost had this white pearly sheen to it in the photos.

I figured using a halo yarn in a slightly different color might give me a similar effect.

Needles

I started off with this affordable interchangeable needle set. For under $40, they’re fantastic value and I knit an entire sweater with these.

But I was itching to try out the Chiaogoo needles that everyone raves about so for Christmas, I splurged and treated myself to this set.

I loved it immediately.

It’s so pricey (and I loathe the fabric case lol) but the needles and cables are fantastic. I get the hype!

obsessed with the Chiaogoo needles

For the Jenny Jacket pattern, I highly recommend the Chiaogoo needles.

The pointy metal tips make it a lot easier to create the smock stitch pattern. Since you use your needle tip to insert into the stitches and pull through, a pointier needle tip really helps.

I knit the body of the cardigan entirely with the Chiaogoo needles, then for the sleeves, I used my affordable shorties set.

It was such an immediate difference I had to go and buy the Chiaogoo shorties, ha.

Still recommend the cheap set, but for more intense textured knits like cabling and this smock stitch, I think nicer needles can help.

Difficulty

Petite Knit rates this pattern as a 5 out of 5 on difficult, so originally I had this pattern much farther down on my list of ‘projects to knit’.

But then I saw someone say that the Jenny Jacket was actually really doable, because it’s just a variation on ribbing.

So I decided to try it and can confirm – it’s very doable! Definitely not a 5* difficulty, maybe more like a 3.

The smock stitch is created using 2×2 rib and wrapping yarn around the ribbed stitches. You can get a preview of it in one of the videos on her pattern sales page.

It looks much fancier and more complicated than it is!

So if you’ve had this on your list, I’d say go for it :)

Project Notes

Tips

Videos

Petite Knit has video support for all the more challenging parts of making the Jenny Jacket.

She mentions in the pattern pdf that they’re on her website, so at first I just went to the Video tab on her site.

I didn’t realize, but it’s actually much more helpful to go to the pattern sales page, because she has a tab there with more videos specifically for that pattern.

I only realized half way through, so make sure to find the right videos!

The video tutorial for making the button band, for example, is only on the Jenny Jacket V-Neck page, not the general Video page.

Note: The videos are narrated in Danish, but there are closed captions in English, so I found it easy to follow.

Modifications

I made the sleeves a bit longer.

She mentions in the pattern that you can extend the length in repeats of 6 or 12. I ended on a extra 6 rows, but in hindsight should have done 12.

If you end on a 6th row, the last row will be the horizontal line ‘—‘ of the smock stitch, which doesn’t look as nice as if you end on the bottom of the ‘X’.

Oh well – I already redid an entire sleeve so I won’t be re-doing it a second time lol.

left: ending the smock stitch on a 6th row, where the — ends at the start of ribbing | right: ending the smock stitch on a 12th row, where the bottom of the x leads into the ribbing

Fit and Sizing

I knit the Jenny Jacket in size small.

I was hoping for a grandpa cardigan vibe, slightly oversized and cozy.

I really liked the fit in the sample photos, but I’m realizing Petite Knit must be a very small person ha.

While I chose the size based off the finished garment and ease recommendations listed in the pattern, I think the finished cardigan is a bit smaller and more fitted than I’d like. (I did meet gauge).

If I ever knit this again, I’d go up a size and also knit the body a little longer.

But as is, it looks great! It just depends on the fit / vibe you’re going for I guess.

Blocking

The yarn changed a lot post block.

I had made a gauge swatch, so I knew the smock stitch would relax horizontally (and actually shrink ever so slightly, vertically) but I didn’t realize until I blocked the sweater how much the yarn changed.

The fabric went from very plush, squishy and thick to flat. It became a lot more drape-y too.

To be honest, I prefer the pre-block fabric.

the body is blocked vs the sleeve isn’t. the fabric noticeable flattens and becomes more drapey, but I think I liked how plush the pre-blocked fabric was!

Because this pattern is called the Jenny Jacket, I was expecting more of a mid-layer kind of piece (or fall jacket).

But due to the way wet blocking changed the fabric, it became much thinner and drapier, like a regular cardigan.

I’m not sure if this is specific to Drops Flora + Brushed Alpaca. If I had used different yarn, would this still happen?

In general, I think ribbing and cabling will relax horizontally.. so maybe I have to knit more textured sweaters in different yarns to find out.

I accidentally knit the first sleeve in the wrong needle size 😩 as a perfectionist, I was immediately going to re-do it ‘properly’, but then I thought I’d do an experiment… how much of a difference does needle size make?

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Final Thoughts

I love the pattern! Petite Knit did an excellent job, both with the design and the written instructions.

Everything was very easy to follow.

For the sleeves, she writes out steps row by row, so you can easily understand how to make the decreases while still following the smock stitch pattern.

I also think her method of creating a double knit button band without breaking yarn is genius – I’d recommend trying out this pattern for that method alone!

Most cardigan patterns I had looked at prior to choosing this one used ribbing for the button band.

I think double knit button bands look a lot neater and more finished, similar to store bought sweaters.

So I personally love that Petit Knit took the extra time to include this.

Overall, the Jenny Jacket was a long knit but worth the time and effort!

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