I haven’t been doing much knitting this summer, but I am making progress with my tiny sweater. Things are moving along. I have yet to . . . finish the body, add some narrow button bands, then seam-and-weave-ends. And I’ll be traveling this week, so I’m confident the sweater will be finished before the baby arrives.
I’ve knit a lot of baby sweaters over the years (all gifts; I never knit for my own kids when they were babies), but I think this little sweater might be my favorite. I love the striped yoke. I love the vertical slip stitch lines that run down the yoke. I love garter stitch sweaters for babies. I love narrow button bands on baby sweaters. So this design ticks all those boxes. (It’s this pattern, by the way.)
I also like how gender-neutral this design is. I chose to knit the stripes in a pinky shade for this go-round (the baby is a girl, and her mom is very girlie), but this sweater would work up nicely in any color combination. It’s also a Not Fussy sweater — one that is practical and made to be worn. And although this baby is due in a few weeks – smack dab in the middle of summer – I’m making a bigger size so it can keep an active baby warm when the weather turns cool. (This baby lives in a northern climate.)
I also love that the pattern calls for knitting the sleeves flat (my preferred method when it comes to sleeves). In fact, the instructions are unique (to me) in that they actually call for knitting the sleeves flat after the yoke increases are complete and before knitting the body. It’s a clever and effective technique I’ve never seen before. (There is a photo that kind of shows the result of this below. It would have been better had I taken a photo with just the sleeves before I got going on the body stitches. But I didn’t do that.)
My very favorite thing about this sweater, though? It’s that little contrast stripe on the sleeves! And there’ll be another one at the hem edge, too, when I get there. So sweet!
How about you? What’s your favorite baby sweater pattern?
I don’t have a favorite baby sweater but I did knit the kid’s Porty Pullover for the boys a few years ago and I loved that pattern. I agree about that little contrast at the sleeve. I think those details really make it special. I have a cowl on the needles and it is even too hot to have that in my lap for more than a short time so right now I am all about the sketching and stitching small pieces.
That is adorable!! I knit Colin a couple of sweaters when he was a toddler, but I don’t have a favorite pattern. Guess I should find one…given there will be a little girls in 5 months or so!!
It’s very cute! I confess I’ve only ever knit one sweater pattern that called for knitting the sleeves flat and seaming them, and even then I knit them in the round — I don’t love seaming, though I don’t mind it, but seams on a baby sweater seemed (ha!) too much to me. I’ve knit a fair number of Baby Surprise Jackets over the years, and I also really like Lisa Chemery’s patterns. The Hyphen sweater is a great unisex pattern.
I have probably knit a dozen EZ Baby Surprise Jackets as baby gifts! (Each of my grands has had one knit for them as well!) It ticks lots of the same boxes… garter, narrow button bands, and it works perfectly for a skein of sock yarn! I also love adding an attached I-cord to give it a nice finish! (Safe travels this week!) XO
That is a cute sweater! I love all the little details, but just have one question: why do you prefer knitting sleeves flat? I don’t have much experience knitting sweater sleeves at all but I usually figure that the fewer seams I have to sew, the better. Just curious!
My favorites are Iceling and Ash Hoodie. I’ve knit Iceling many many times. It has a wonderful icord bindoff that makes a beautiful edge. I’ve also done Seamless Yoked Sweater many times. On that one I’ve learned that more stitches needs to be added to the underarm because it comes out to tight otherwise . That said, I’ve already added your little sweater to my favorites list on Ravelry!
I don’t have a favorite baby sweater, but I do prefer making cardigans for little ones — you don’t have to pull them over a squirming little head. This is a cute one — and looks fun to knit!
I like your choice of colors—not overly girlie girlie. Baby sweaters are such a fun knit. You get all the challenges of knitting a sweater, but you don’t have to worry too much about sizing since baby will grow into it, and it’s finished relatively quickly.
That’s an adorable sweater and I appreciate all the details you shared about the pattern. My go-to baby sweater is the Baby Surprise Jacket and I prefer to knit it in handspun if possible.
I’d have to say Juliana’s Baby Sweater. It’s knit side-to-side so I’ve had fun watching the stripes play out with either self-striping yarn (like this: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/KWAK/julianas-baby-sweater-2) or long-striping. Been a long time since I’ve knit a baby sweater, though.
I think my link upset your blog host, so to summarize what I tried to post: Juliana’s Baby Sweater, from a Portuguese Knitting book. It’s worked side-to-side, with short rows, which makes it interesting and a lot of fun to knit with a self- or long-striping yarn. But it’s been a long time since I knit a baby sweater.
What a great design – and I love the colors you chose for this girlie version. My go-to baby sweater is this one https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sunnyside that features a cable OR a lace panel … I knit this for all the baby boys and second girls because my favorite baby pattern is a dress https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lilly-rose-dress (also, Heidi Kirrmaier’s Vitamin D knit sleeves before body – maybe folks found that “weird” because now she knits body then sleeves?) Safe travels and all the good wishes this week!
I just shared a comment with two links … so maybe it didn’t post just like Karel noted above? I do love the sweater you’re knitting, and I have a favorite baby sweater (Sunnyside) but my favorite baby pattern is the Lilly Rose Dress. Safe travels and best wishes this week!
The sweater looks great! It looked familiar so I checked and I knit it in 2017 when my niece was expecting. It was a fun knit.
I think my most knit baby sweaters are by Cashmere Junkie (Taiga Hilliard). I’ve made Wee Bean 3 times and Olive You Baby 3 times and a few of her others once.
Before I found them, I knit a Plymouth Design Pattern, 1354 Top Down Baby jacket 2 times.
I found A Simple Baby Pullover was very enjoyable to knit. It has a henley neck for big baby heads and is easily unisex and is a nice canvas for creativity. It is also free. I love the colors you used, Kym on your ! Taiga Hilliard has a few patterns for bulky yarns which makes them really quick.
What a sweet little sweater. Those contrasting stripes at the bottom of the sleeve and body are such a nice touch. I’ve knit the “Seamless Yoked Sweater” for little girls. It’s a free pattern and the directions would be a bit sketchy for a beginner but I have a well worn pattern with many notes. I also like “Little Nugget.” It’s a basic raglan pullover with great directions including short rows across the back neck.
Such a cute sweater! I have knit numerous IN THREES: A BABY CARDIGAN & GARTER YOKE BABY CARDI, but I think my favorite is VINTAGE BABY CARDIGAN (squishy garter stitch!).