Sweet Cardigan Knitting Pattern for Kids

I don’t know why I don’t share a lot of kids knitting patterns. I guess my daughter has aged out of them (I still knit for her occasionally but she fits in the smallest of the adult sizes these days) but for the most part they aren’t really on my radar.

(Unless I’m designing them, but that’s usually baby knitting patterns.)

But this cute little kids cardigan caught my eye the other day and I think it would be great to knit for little ones heading into fall. The K? Cardigan by Leila Raven is a top-down, circular yoke cardigan worked in one piece starting with an integrated garter stitch collar, with plenty of stockinette stitch for ease as well as some lacy shale stripes for extra fun. The button band is also garter stitch and worked as you go to make it faster and easier.

The pattern is sized for babies 3-6 months to kids 4-6 years, and it’s based on the Elizabeth Zimmermann Baby Sweater on Two Needles pattern from Knitter’s Almanac, as well as a design used in one of the designer’s other patterns. It’s a fun mashup that’s easy to knit and to wear.

The original design was worked in DK weight yarn, but the designer has expanded the sizing so that you can work the bigger sizes using worsted weight yarn, which makes them a little bigger. There are options for short sleeves and long sleeves, and the lace parts are both written and charted.

I love that it only has buttons at the top, which is great for knitters because you have to make fewer buttonholes, but also easier for kids to wear. It helps keep the sweater on their body but isn’t too constricting (especially when you’re working around a fat little baby belly).

You can get a copy of this pattern from Ravelry.

Next Pattern:

If you’re looking for a fun project to play with brioche knitting, check out the My Buddy knitting pattern/recipe from Casuarinagirl on Ravelry.

This project doesn’t include a brioche tutorial, so it’s good to know the basics, including how to increase and decrease, but you can always practice on a swatch before you start the project if you want.

The design is meant to be flexible for the yarn you have and what size and shape of project you want to make, from a skinny neck scarf to a asymmetrical triangle or a more classic triangular shape.

The shape you end up with will depend on how often you increase (and then decrease on the other side). The pattern mentions increasing every fourth, fifth or six row (and the one shown increases and decreases every sixth row) but you can do it even more or less often depending on the shape you’re looking for an how much yarn you want to use.

You can work to whatever depth you would like, or use almost half of the yarn you have set aside for the project and begin decreasing.

When it comes to yarn, she used three strands of yarn held together to make a super fluffy shawl, but you can work it with whatever yarn and needles you like to make a wrap that’s all your own.

If you are new to brioche (or to increasing and decreasing in brioche) it might be a good idea to make a little scarf or head wrap first before diving in to the bigger pattern, just so you’re more comfortable with the technique. Or just give it a go; nothing about brioche knitting is that difficult. (But you might want to use a lifeline because I find brioche hard to rip out or fix mistakes in properly.)

You can grab the free pattern for the Buddy Wrap on Ravelry.

[Photo: Casuarinagirl]

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