Garter Baby Jacket
We just finished up a cute new project, a Garter Baby Jacket (cardigan). I felt we needed to do a sample of a baby sweater suitable for new knitters. Something that didn’t involve buying a lot of materials (some ‘easy’ patterns involve buying 6 pairs of needles, stitch markers, stitch holders, etc). Any sweater project will involve learning some new skills, but I also wanted something that didn’t involve too-too many hurdles, and where those skills weren’t too hard to pick-up and could be executed looking relatively good (we all know that sometimes when you learn something new it doesn’t look perfect).
So, the details …. the jacket is knit flat in one piece, from the bottom back, up through the arms, and then down across the fronts. It is seamed along the sides and under the arms, which hides a multitude of sins, as does the garter stitch which is much easier to seam than stocking stitch. It uses only one pair of needles, and you can use straight or circular needles, whichever you prefer. To keep things simple we did not make the pockets and just skipped over that part in the instructions.
We made the smallest size and used two skeins of Malabrigo Rios. The pattern is from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss (you can’t go wrong with Debbie for gorgeous knits for kids). The book has been out for a while and can be found at public libraries (like my own Toronto Public Library, or you can scoop up a reasonably priced used copy from ABEbooks.com. Debbie Bliss also published a similar FREE pattern, the Ribbon Tied Baby Jacket.
Materials
- Malabrigo Rios 2(3, 3) skeins
- 5mm/US8 needles (straight or circular)
- darning or tapestry needle
Similar FREE Patters
Notes
- There are corrections for this pattern, print them off before you start.
- Use a Cable Cast-On when you work the arms and neck
- See this tutorial for seaming garter stitch
- See this tutorial for weaving in ends in garter stitch
- To make the button holes you will use Yarn Overs
- If you want straight edges try using a Slipped Stitch Selvedge Edge
- Because our tension was off, our project is a bit larger than the pattern: length to shoulder 11.5″, sleeve length unrolled 8″/rolled 7″
- See our project notes on Ravelry
Sizes
- 3-6(6-9, 9-12) months
- Length to Shoulder: 10.25(11, 11.75) inches
- Sleeve Length: 6.25(7, 8) inches
Modifications
- To keep things simpler we skipped making the pockets
- We made the smallest size and used up almost all of our yarn
- Our gauge (unblocked) was a bit larger than the pattern: 17 sts & 34 rows = 4″
Skills
- Long Tail Cast On
- Knit Stitch
- Cast Off/Bind Off
- Use a Cable Cast-On when you work the arms and neck
- Yarn Over
- Seaming garter stitch
- Weaving in ends in garter stitch
