Knit a Sweet Speckled Cardigan for a Little One

Knitting for babies and toddlers is so satisfying because the projects are generally pretty small (for garments, anyway) and it’s easy to make them look fancy without a lot of extra work on your part.

The Growing Garden Cardigan by Sandi Rosner for Purl Soho is a project like that. It looks really interesting because of the colorwork, but it’s not at all that hard to do.

The cardigan uses slip stitches to break up the stripes, which is an easy technique that only requires working with one color of yarn at a time. The project is shown using one color for the background and four coordinating colors (made with their mini balls of yarn) for the stripes, but you can use a single solid color, a variegated colorway or odd balls left over from other projects.

Since this project is for kids its a great idea to use yarn that’s washable. The pattern calls for a DK weight cotton yarn.

The pattern comes in four sizes, to fit a newborn, 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18-24 months, and is meant to be worn with an inch or two (2.5-5 cm) of positive ease since it will be worn over other clothes.

The design is a top-down cardigan worked flat in one piece, with the sleeves worked in the round from the top down after the body of the sweater is done. To make it even easier, you don’t have to cut the yarns you aren’t working with as you go; just carry them up the edge for fewer ends to weave in.

This project is a good introduction to sweater knitting if you’ve never done it before, and it would make a great gift for a little one in your life no matter the climate where they live. Of course you could also make this in a washable wool to make it warmer for kiddos who live in colder climates.

Grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical.

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique.

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead.

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit.

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern.

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like.

[Photo: Maymade Knits]

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