When I was first really getting into knitting, I found this super cute, oversized puffy sweater on Madewell. I wanted to learn how I could recreate it, but I didn’t even know the first place to start.
I had almost forgotten about the Maiami x Madewell sweater until I saw this Happiness Cardigan by MYPZ. This cardigan gives me the exact same vibes — I love the big soft loops and the puffy bubble sleeves.
The Maiami sweater is $460, and I found a cardigan version for $603! I know I’ve spent a lot on yarn in the past (like with my Favo Sweater for my birthday) but this time, I wanted to try to keep my material costs lower. MYPZ recommends yarn from their own site which looks super beautiful, but it’s pricey. They also sell the actual completed cardigans, but they’re also pricey at $450 (on sale). I was excited to try and achieve the same look of the Maiami cardigan, but for a fraction of the price.
I ended up using the pattern’s alternative yarn recommendations and similar yarns that I found through yarnsub.com. If you haven’t used yarnsub, it’s actually amazing. If you are looking or a less expensive substitute or more easily accessible yarn alternatives, it’s a good place to start.
MATERIALS
Yarn
I decided to make the Medium/Large size cardigan and chose a few different colors so I could get some striping/variety. I used these yarns:
I ordered all of my yarn from LoveCrafts and got 15% off because it was my first order. I also got free shipping, so all together my yarn cost $114. They also have a lot of free patterns; I’ve already downloaded a few and they all seem well-written, so I’m excited to add those to my queue.
I also had a small ball of hand-spun yarn from Yarn House Fibers that I used in a couple of rows at the sleeves. Since I already had this yarn and I only used it for a few rows, I’m not counting it in my materials cost.
Needles
I have an interchangeable needle set (which I highly recommend), that included the US size 13 needles but not a US size 19. I had to buy the larger size separately. I got this one on a 40″ cable for $19.
So my total material cost was $133. Which is basically like 78% off vs. buying the Maiami cardigan directly.
UPDATE: The Maiami cardigan is now on sale for $254, which makes my materials only 48% less expensive. Still quite a deal!
HAPPINESS CARDIGAN
Looking at this pattern, I see that it’s called the Happiness Cardigan on Ravelry, but the actual pattern calls it the Alpaca-Mohair Cardigan.
The pattern is laid out in a cute way; it’s pretty and infographic-like. There are little “tip” boxes with cute call-outs, and diagrams to help you out. Now that I’ve knit a few projects, this pattern looks very easy. However, some of the written instruction is different than I’m used to, and may be confusing for a super new knitter.
In this pattern, you knit based on the number of rows vs a length — ex. “knit 15 rows” instead of “knit 4 inches”. Also, the pattern says “needle” when it’s referring to the row — so “needle 15” means “row 15”. It was a little confusing to me when I was first reading through it. Little things like that immediately jumped out as being really different.
Increases/Decreases
The pattern doesn’t specify what type of increases or decreases to make, so I just did what I thought was best. I used kfb for my increases, and either SSK or K2tog for my decreases.
Construction
Similar to my Favo Sweater, this cardigan is knit in separate pieces (sleeves, front panels, back), and then sewn together.
I made a little diagram of the sweater with the colors I was going for and the thickness of the stripes. When I started knitting, the mohair was more dominant than I thought it would be, so my sweater is more pink than I expected. Overall, I think it looks really cohesive and fun.
Sleeves
I tried to follow my little diagram when starting my sweater, but it was easier for me to just pick the different colors/striping as I went. I wrote all of my color changes down so that I could duplicate it for the second sleeve.
Each sleeve was really fast to knit. I love the look of the hand-spun as a pop of something extra special. I didn’t get the pattern to match exactly on both sleeves because I used the pink mohair on one stripe instead of the darker color. I think it looks fine though; it doesn’t have to be super matchy.
Front Panels
On the front panels, I made up a new pattern for the striping. I wrote out the pattern as I went so I could duplicate it for the left panel.
On the last few rows of the front panels, you’re supposed to decrease stitches. On the right front panel, you are supposed to decrease at the end of the row. I knit to the last three stitches on a decrease row and did a SSK, K1.
The direction for the left front panel says to do the same as you did for the right panel “but in reflection”. This was a weird instruction to me, but I figured that it meant that you are supposed to decrease at the beginning of the row. So on a decrease row I did a K2tog.
This seemed to give the appropriate slants on each of the front panels that matched the pattern diagram.
Back Panel
I tried to match the same pattern as the front panels to give an all around symmetrical look. The back panel is the largest, but was still really quick to knit.
I ran out of mohair near the end, so I just completed the back without any mohair at all. I think it looks like a nice fade, but the mohair really made the sweater special.
Assembling
The pattern has a really clear diagram about lining up your pieces so you know where to connect everything. I missed the little tip boxes that said to place a stitch marker at the first decrease rows, so I just had to estimate where I thought that should be.
Of course, I had to use the mattress stitch that I learned from making my Favo Sweater. It’s like magic how it creates the seam so easily. Here’s a video tutorial about the mattress stitch:
It was a little awkward trying to sew everything together. I feel like the back/shoulder area is strange but I can’t tell when I wear it.
I love how big and puffy the Happiness Cardigan is while still feeling lightweight. This is the kind of sweater I’d like to pop on in the early morning and sit outside to watch the sunrise. Or perfect to wear out on a cool evening walk on the beach. It’s quirky and fun, but still looks expensive and custom; I love it.
I think it’s a pretty good dupe to the Madewell x Maiami sweater and the Maiami cardigan I found.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This sweater was incredibly fast to knit. Using such large needles made it really easy to complete each segment quickly. I took my time with this sweater, knitting a little bit whenever I wanted a break from other projects, but I think you could knit it completely in 1-2 days if you were focused on it.
I love the fit and look of this sweater and I think I achieved the vibe I wanted. Even though the pattern had a unique way of explaining things, it was really simple to make and I love the fit.
I made this cardigan for $133 of materials which is a fraction of the price for the inspiration sweater and cardigan from Maiami. I really enjoyed knitting it too, not only do I get a beautiful cardigan for a “reduced price”, but I also had a lot of fun creating it!
In the future, I’d love to knit the MYPZ sweater version with the hand dyed yarn from the designer since those colors look amazing.
