Knit a Sheep Sweater for Your Little Princess

Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, has a knack for dressing her kiddos in adorable knits. Remember little George in his soldier boy vest?

The royal family recently released a photo of Princess Charlotte in an adorable yellow cardigan bedecked with a yoke full of bunnies.

The original sold out everywhere as soon as the photo was released, but of course knitters can make their own.

There was already a pattern on Ravelry from a bunny-yoked cardigan, the Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigan by Jennifer Little of Looking Glass Knits. Her version — a free download on Ravelry available in English and Dutch and sized for a 9 to 12-month-old — shows a beige sweater with sheep on a field of green and either blue or pink accents. To make it more like the royal cardigan in question, knit the whole body in yellow and stitch blue sheep on a white background. You could even add in your own bands of Fair Isle diamonds to the bottom of the yoke instead of the checkerboard pattern of the original.

If you wanted to make a cardigan like this for a bigger child, choose any yoked cardigan pattern you like and work in the sheep and other designs as you go.

Want to get in on the sheep trend without copying Charlotte’s look? Here are a few more great sheep cardigans for kids:

Welcome to the Flock | Julia Farwell-Clay

Hoggett | Ann Kingstone

Where the Wild Sheep Roam | Pinneguri

Or for adults, check out Farwell-Clay’s Shepherdess, Pinneguri’s Angry Sheep and Sinnasaujakka, the Summer Snow Sweater by Patrick Hassel-Zein, or Tups and Wethers, both by Kingstone. And if you’re one of the thousands who has knit a Baa-ble (or a few), those sheep would be smashing on a sweater as well.

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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