I got this scummy yarn for Christmas last year. My mother-in-law thought I could turn it into party shrugs for the two girls. She was right, but big sis has a very small selection of clothes and was desperately in need of a smart cardigan, so I used up two of the three skeins on a proper cardigan for her.
I didn't find anything I particularly liked in Ravelry, so I had a look in the few pattern books and magazines that I have. I notice that the quantity of patterns for children's knitwear is boundless for newborns, plentiful for toddlers and adequate for small children, but that as they get older, it peters out significantly. There is going to be quite a knitwear wardrobe gap from age 8/9 until she can fit adult sizes.
What I did find was one that made me very happy. I was given this lovely magazine, Fabulous Knits, for Christmas the year before, and while there are many beautiful things in it, I hadn't got around to using it. I checked the sizes carefully and decided to take a chance with this Sirdar pattern. It took a bit of convincing that: no, the bonnet is not automatically knitted with the cardigan; and ok, you don't have to have the collar. I think is kind of sweet, and would have looked lovely. But I agreed to leave it off and do a crew neck instead. I do like it when she gets involved in the design choices.
The sizing only went up to age 6-7, but she is quite petite so I took a chance. She also has a younger sister that I could pass it on to if it really didn't work. It only just fits her. It is a great fit now, but probably won't last another season. The body is perfect but the underarm cuts in a bit. If I could figure out how to do just a few extra increases in the raglan sleeves, it would be ideal.
The raglan sleeves are knitted separately and then seamed on to the main part of the cardigan, which is knitted as one piece. I honestly don't know why they don't have you join and then do the raglan decreases all in one. These are the perfect style of sleeves to knit with no seaming and no knitwear pattern designer should imagine doing anything else! That is probably my only beef with this pattern. It worked up really nicely, even if I couldn't commit the lace pattern to memory, and had to check the instructions every single time! The crew neck is just picked up and a few rows of garter stitch. Since it is a baby cardigan, the shaping at the waist is flared, which suits a chubby baby, but not so much a growing child. It also rolls a bit, even after blocking. A deeper, ribbed waistband might be more suitable, but less delicate.
The buttons are salvaged from an old shirt of my husbands. I think it might even be the one that got subjected to the pink dye two years ago. (Here's how it looks now.) It keeps on giving and I used all 10 buttons from it. They look lovely and natural against the cream tones of the yarn.
My Ravelry notes cover yarn, pattern, needles and time. My self-imposed reduced knitting time means it took me three months to knit this.
Apparently, one has to pose for blog photos, and here is how to do it. I wonder where she learned that?
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