Ezra is a simple little baby/toddler cardie that’s great for knitters new to making sweaters or anyone who just wants a simple knit. It’s worked from the top-down in one piece in garter stitch with a simple detail in the shoulder seam to make things a little interesting.
We used Berroco Pima Soft for its incredible softness, and its texture gives the garter stitch a slightly rustic feel. We used a 4mm/US6 needle (because that’s what I could find), but I think the project would knit up better on 3.75mm/US5, so that’s what I have listed below. More yarn options are listed below.
I know it’s only St Patrick’s Day, and it’s still snowing (but thankfully not sticking to the ground), but warm weather is just around the corner, and I think a healthy dose of cheer is in order this spring!
Berroco Pima Soft
If you’ve been in the store lately you’ve likely noticed the little sweaters all over the place. Those sweaters are my way of swatching and spending some time with a new yarn to see if it is store-worthy. It’s an interesting process, sometimes I’m underwhelmed by yarns I thought I’d love, and sometimes I find gems I never expected. Berroco Pima Soft is one of the gems.
Berroco Pima Soft is a new, CRAZY SOFT, 2-ply yarn made with 100% pima cotton. It’s slightly textured, making it much more forgiving to knit with than a smooth cotton (which also makes weaving in ends and finishing easier). It’s perfect for anything you want to make, from tees, tanks, sweaters, chemo-hats, babies, blankets, cushions – you name it. It’s a DK weight (21 to 22 sts/4″ on a 3.75mm/US5 to 4mm/US6 needle) so it isn’t too heavy for warm weather or if your internal thermostat runs warm. It’s lovely for crochet and knitting, and is just right for all climates! It’s great for knitting and crochet, and I think it would also make a nice texture in a punch needle project.
Designed with Berroco Pima Soft, this loose summer tee is a sampler of textured stitch patterns. Vincas features a boxy shape and slight drop shoulders. It is worked flat and seamed (the stitch patterns are written out, there are no charts).
Riviera is a cheerful, simple cotton tee with a lace lyoke. It’s worked from the top down, in the round, to underarms, then divided for body and sleeves. The body is worked in the round to lower edge (the lace yoke pattern is charted).
The Me Oh My Tee is your classic everyday t-shirt, but with an added cut-off, cropped element inspired by my best friend, Maiya, and her tendency to take scissors to all her favorite shirts. Knit from the bottom up at a fairly tight gauge and emulated set-in sleeves (it’s a seamless knit, no sewing), this tee will quickly get added to your go-to t-shirt rotation.
I figured we can all use something to look forward to, and the seasons’ changing is one of those things you can always bank on (at least in Canada – we have A LOT of weather). Anker’s Summer Shirt is a simple summer top, worked in one piece from the top down. The yoke is worked in sections of rib with increases in the round, followed by classic raglan increases when the stockinette stitch section begins. The sleeves are worked at the end, either on double-pointed needles or on circular needles using the Magic Loop technique. Anker’s Summer Shirt has no finishing other than weaving in ends.
Size
XS (S) M (L) XL (2XL) 3XL
To fit a bust circumference of 80-85 (85-90) 90-95 (95-100) 100-110 (110-120) 120-130 cm [31½-33½ (33½-35½) 35½-37½ (37½-39¼) 39¼-43¼ (43¼-47¼) 47¼-51¼ inches].
Designed to have approx. 0-5 cm – [0-2 inches] – of positive ease, meaning it is designed to be 0-5 cm – [0-2 inches] larger in circumference than your widest upper body measurement.
We’ve cast on for this project in Berroco Pima Soft and it’s looking amazing! Worked entirely in garter stitch, Ezra is a basic top-down, seamless design is a welcome gift for any new parent. Customize the sleeve length to suit any season and choose from four sizes up to two years old. BT by Brooklyn Tweed patterns are skill-accessible knitting patterns written in a concise, visually appealing way. This pattern. is an great entry-point for knitting sweaters in the round. Ezra is a great entry point for anyone new to knitting sweaters or making them in the round from the top-down.
The pattern is worked from the bottom up in the round, beginning with the ribbed band before the lace pattern begins. If you prefer the ribbed band to be skintight, there is an option to add an elastic. The bralette is later separated for front/back, and the front bra cups worked separately. The straps are worked in an icord and later seamed to the back. Pattern includes photos on suggested placement for racerback straps, but they can be modified for straight straps.
Berroco just launched an adorable new capsule collection of vintage & retro-inspired designs, the Vintage Baby Collection. The collection features 6 sweet designs made with the poplar Berroco Vintage Baby, a soft hand, washable, and affordable yarn. If you like the other yarns in Berroco’s Vintage family, then Vintage Baby will please.
Berroco Vintage Baby
Berroco Vintage Baby features an even softer blend of machine washable fibers than the other yarns in the Vintage line, in a DK weight. The two-ply yarn has a slight sheen and is perfect for all your projects that need a gentle touch. It comes in a smaller, 50g ball and lots of baby-happy colours. It’s great for just about everything: babies, kids, men, blankets, hats, afghans, socks, etc. It’s soft, easy to work with and comes in a spectrum of great colours – great for colourwork! It’s a blend of wool and high-end synthetic fibres, but it isn’t shiny (or squeaky), and doesn’t feel acrylicy. This yarn is also available in a DK weight, Berroco Vintage DK , a worsted weight, Berroco Vintage, and a chunky/bulky weight Berroco Vintage Chunky.
Harper the Elephant – the newest member of the stuffy family! Harper is a darling elephant ready to take on the days events! Pattern includes sweater for Harper.
Size
Approximately 12″ / 30.5 cm long x 9″ / 23 cm around body
Materials
Berroco Vintage Baby(50 grs): 2 balls #10023 Orange (C1) for elephant and 1 ball #10006 Ballet Pink (C2) for sweater
Ray Bonnet is a simple and darling striped bonnet with contrasting pom-pom. Ray Socks are a simple and quick baby socks pattern worked from cuff to toe, with two cuff options. You won’t be able to make just one pair!
Size
Bonnet: Approximately 8″ / 20.5 cm around neck edge x 12″ / 30.5 cm across (measured from one neck edge, across head, to the other neck edge).
Socks: Approximately 4″ / 10 cm around leg and foot x 4″ / 10 cm long (foot)
Sized to fit approximately 3–6 months.
Materials
BONNET – Berroco Vintage Baby(50 grs): 1 ball each #10071 Pepper (C1), #10002 Pearl (C2), and #10020 Sunflower (C3)
SOCKS – Berroco Vintage Baby(50 grs): 1 ball (Version 1 shown in #10002 Pearl, Version 2 shown in #10006 Ballet Pink, #10021 Turquoise, and #10023 Orange)
Approximately 37” / 94 cm wide x 44” / 112 cm long
1 square = 7” x 7” / 18 cm x 18 cm
Materials
Berroco Vintage Baby(50 grs): 1 ball each #10020 Sunflower (C1) and #10023 Orange (C2), 3 balls #10005 Haze (C3), 2 balls each #10002 Pearl (C4) and #10021 Turquoise (C5), and 4 balls #10035 Navy (C6)
Colors flow from stripe to stripe in this ombré mosaic stitch blanket. Made in crib size for perfect snuggle. For throw size, see the Fern Lake blanket.
I love how a simple one row chevron lace repeat can look in a fun stripe pattern in Baby Eden. Made in a crib size. For throw size see the Eden Blanket.
Our local knitting guild, The Needlework Guild of Canada, very graciously invited me to attend their first Knit in the Park, so I whipped up a little kit for them, a Pumpkin Beanie. I figured it’s timely, what with harvest season approaching. Plus, there is no child ever who isn’t ADORABLE in a pumpkin hat. Since our guild knits for charity I wanted it to be something that was gender neutral, and makes a great gift for anyone. I sized the hat from preemie to kids of all ages, and you should be able to get 2 pumpkin hats out of one kit (and probably a third green hat too). The yarn is the ever soft and Berroco Vintage, but if you want to upgrade go for the combo I assembled with Malabrigo Rios.
We wanted the skill level to be accessible to knitters in the beginner spectrum, so there isn’t any colourwork or charts, you just need the following skills:
Read a knitting pattern
Cast on & Bind off
Knit & Purl in the same row
Work in the round on circular & double pointed needles
Colors flow from stripe to stripe in this ombré mosaic stitch blanket. Baby Fern Lake is designed as a crib size for perfect snuggle, but if you’d like a throw size, see the Fern Lake blanket (see pictures below).
Skill Level
Intermediate-Beginner (once you are comfortable knitting and purling in the same row you’ll be good to go).
Skills
Cast on, knit, purl, slip stitch with yarn in front or back, bind-off, weaving in ends, reading a pattern.
Approximately 32″ / 81 cm wide x 44″ / 112 cm long
The Yarn
Berroco Vintage Baby features an even softer blend of machine washable fibers in a DK weight. The two-ply yarn has a slight sheen and is perfect for all your projects that need a gentle touch. It also comes in a smaller, 50g ball (great for a baby hat or a pair of booties) and lots of baby-happy colours.
Materials
Berroco Vintage Baby: 3 balls each of 10002 Pearl (C1), 10072 Toast (C2), 10071 Pepper (C3), and 10012 Lagoon (C4)
I love how a simple a one row chevron lace repeat can look in a fun stripe pattern! This version of Eden is written as a crib size, but if you want to make it as a throw see the Eden Blanket (see pictures below), designed with Berroco Remix Light.
Skill Level
Intermediate-Beginner (ie. not your first project, but possibly your second, third, or fourth).
Skills
chain, double crochet, DC3tog, weaving in ends, reading a crochet pattern.
Approximately 31″ / 79 cm wide x 46″ / 117 cm long
The Yarn
Berroco Vintage Baby features an even softer blend of machine washable fibers in a DK weight. The two-ply yarn has a slight sheen and is perfect for all your projects that need a gentle touch. It comes in a smaller, 50g ball and lots of baby-happy colours.
Materials
Berroco Vintage Baby: 5 balls 10005 Haze (MC), 3 balls 10009 Peach (C1), and 4 balls 10001 Snow White (C2)
We just received a big restock or Malabrigo Rios (and are expecting more to come in in a couple of weeks). There have been so many constraints over the last year, finally being able to get a decent re-stock feels so good!
Should not already be familiar with this wonderful yarn, Malabrigo Rios is a super-duper soft, machine washable yarn made from 100% merino wool. It’s hand dyed for subtle variations, and is great for anyone and any project except felting (it will not felt). Rios is specially suitable for babies, kids (it makes great hats, sweaters, blankets, etc). The dyeing tends to have a watercolour effect and it always seems to knit up even more beautiful than in the skein. The base yarn is silky soft and springy with lots of body. Whenever I can I like to use it for projects I make for my niece and nephew (sometimes the colours don’t fit their very specific requests).
Because this yarn is hand-dyed no two skeins are alike (for the multi-colours different skeins within the same bag can look different). We always try to match the skeins as closely as possible when we send them out. To get the most consistent colour distribution possible, it is always suggested with hand-dyed yarns that you work with two balls and alternate them every couple of rows. Here’s a Videoto help you with this.
Photo: Angeldogknitter on Ravelry.com
Flax
Make. All. The Sweaters. Malabrigo Rios has been used 889 times on Ravelry to make Tin Can Knit’s FREE pattern, Flax. Flax is an all-size design (but it’s limited exclusively to humans; canine, feline, avian, and reptilian sizes are note included) and will fit babies to the largest primate (you may need to make modifications if you’re knitting for one of our cousins on the evolutionary tree … and good luck getting a sweater on a gorilla outside of Photoshop).
Your needle sizes and yardage amount will vary based on the size you’re making, so I won’t list them here, but they’re basically:
Malabrigo Rios has been use 539 times to make this particular pair of socks, Rye. Rye is a great pattern for new sock knitters, it includes how-to instructions, and a full size range from baby to Adult L. Whether you’ve retreats the the cottage, your back-yard or the public park, socks are a great small project that travels extremely well and makes for a very impressive holiday gift.
BTW – getting your winter gifts done over the summer is the absolutely most satisfying feeling you’ll ever experience. It involves a little delayed satisfaction, but come October you’ll be extremely pleased with yourself, especially when you get the itch to make something nice for yourself and you find that you can!
Size
Baby (Toddler, Child, Adult S, M, L)
Finished Cuff (unstretched): 5 (5.75, 6.5, 7.25, 8, 8.75)” around
Finished Leg (adjustable): 2.5 (4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8)”
Moss on the Old Oak is the kind of warp I yearn for on cool says and nights from the spring to fall. It’ll knit up beautifully in either the multicoloured or semi-solid colourways of Malabrigo Rios, and the pattern is offered in three sizes. It’s an advanced-beginner skill level, which is a nice niche for the spring.
Today’s adorables are brought to you courtesy of two DK weight yarns great for baby things, Berroco Vintage DK and the brand new Berroco Vintage Baby. Vintage DK is my favourite yarn in the vintage, of all 4 it looks and feels the most like a yarn made from all natural fibres (it handles fair-isle and socks really beautifully). Vintage Baby has a slightly silkier texture, comes in a palette perfect for babies and kids. It also comes in affordable 50g pull-skeins, so the yarn doesn’t need to be wound up, and you don’t have to buy a ton of yarn to make a small project … which is also great if you want to get into colourwork.
BTW, thank you for the kind letters and comments, they really make my day! Whenever I can I pass on the love and forward them to our colleagues who help us make our magic happen.
Pre-Order
These kits are a special-order and we aren’t stocking them in the store on a regular basis, but you have the option to order them any time (they will be available to purchase as long as the manufacturer makes it available to us). That said, we keep Berroco Vintage in stock all year and are always reordering, so if the yarn is in stock your kit will be available very quickly. Your kit will ship or be available for pick-up once it arrives, and we will contact you. If you need your kit for a specific date please let us know and we can find out if it’s feasible.
Leslie
Seamless and knit from the bottom up, Leslie is a simple, unisex, grandfather cardigan that’s perfect to layer over any outfit. The body is worked in one piece from the bottom up to the underarms. The sleeves are worked in the round to the underarm, then joined to the body. The yoke is worked in one piece.
Riley is a precious romper for a boy or girl with snaps at the bottom and a little bib in the front. The lower back and front are worked separately and then joined. The body is then worked in the round to the waist.
Skill Level: advanced-beginner
Size
3(6, 9, 12, 18) months
To Fit Chest Size: 18(19, 20, 21, 22)”
Finished Chest: 19(20, 21, 22, 23)˝
Finished Length: 16½(17½, 18½, 19½, 20½)˝
This garment was designed with approximately 1” of ease. Please take this into consideration when selecting your size.
With floral buds and a little green i-cord on top, this whimsical hat (pronounced “fairy”) is sure to be a fall and winter favorite for your little one.
I personally have an eye for the wild, weird & whimsical, but I also appreciate the balance and calm of the classics. The following are some worsted weight baby projects for the most discriminating eye (unless you make them in hellacious colours, in which case all bets are off). The suggested yarn, Berroco Vintage , is soft, washable, affordable, and comes in a broad selection of classic and adventurous colours. As always, we can substitute any of our baby-friendly worsted weight yarns. If you’re looking for some projects made with thinner yarn those will be up at bat next, but you can browse HERE.
Pre-Order
These kits are a special-order and we aren’t stocking them in the store on a regular basis, but you have the option to order them any time (they will be available to purchase as long as the manufacturer makes it available to us). That said, we keep Berroco Vintage in stock all year and are always reordering, so if the yarn is in stock your kit will be available very quickly. Your kit will ship or be available for pick-up once it arrives, and we will contact you. If you need your kit for a specific date please let us know and we can find out if it’s feasible.
Ivy
Simple and sweet, Ivy is a rectangular lace blanket that’s just the right size to become your little one’s favorite. The stitch pattern is both charted and written out, and is only 4 rows, making it a great choice for knitters who are new to lace.
The Battenberg Baby Blanketis a classicly styled blanket, with a simple, elegant aesthetic. The stitch used has the appearance of complicated waves, but it’s really just an easy ribbing that starts one stitch to the right every few rows. For an unusual touch, the edging is worked along the sides but doesn’t meet in the corners.
With extra-long ears and a large pom-pom for a tail, Rabbit will fit right in with the rest of your little one’s menagerie of toys. This toy is knit in the round, mostly in one piece. Ears are sewn on, as is the pom-pom tail.
The more I look at these round blankets, the more I love them! It’s amazing how changing the shape can shake up a concept as simple as a blanket. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, just refine the shape a bit!
The Yarn
Berroco Vintage Chunky is a bulky weight yarn that’s great for just about everything: babies, kids, men, blankets, afghans, etc. It is machine washable, soft, easy to work with and come in a spectrum of great colours, both solid and heathered. It’s a blend of wool and high-end synthetic fibres, but it isn’t shiny (or squeaky), and doesn’t feel acrylicy. 40% Wool, 52% Acrylic, 8% Nylon, 100g/125m (136yds). Made in Peru, machine wash, lay flat to dry.
Pre-Order
Please note, while these kits are a special order, we stock the yarn all year round, and generally the chances are good that we will have your colour in stock and your kit will be ready quickly.
These kits as a special-order and we aren’t stocking them in the store on a regular basis – you have the option to order it any time (it will be available to purchase as long as the manufacturer makes it available to us). Your kit will ship or be available for pick-up once it arrives, and we will contact you. If you need your kit for a specific date please let us know and we can find out if it’s feasible.
Knit from the centre out, Cecelia is a botanical blanket that’s perfect for cuddling a baby, wearing as a shawl or simply decorating the home. Stitch pattern is charted. Thefinished projects on Ravelry for this pattern are beautiful, and people seem to make it over and over again!
To make this cheerful circular blanket, one cable pattern is repeated sixteen times, resulting in a profusion of texture. Diamonds and cables intertwine, forming negative spaces that are as interesting as the raised design. Cable pattern is charted, blanket is worked from the outer circumference and decreases into the centre. The finished projects for this pattern on Ravelry are absolutely GORGEOUS!
This simple, fresh baby blanket is created by combining two-by-two rib and garter stitch in concentric circles. Worked from the centre outward, all the increases occur on knit rounds, which makes the counting easy to manage. The off-white centre and border mimic the look of a sliced lime. This blanket would also be adorable as a lemon (colour 6122) or a watermelon (colour 6123 for the interior, 6101 and 6135 for the rind, and 6125 if you want to throw in some seeds).
I’m sorry I haven’t written a proper post in a bit, I’ve been tied up with helping you guys in the store, humidity and life. Luckily, life works for us, and gives us little breaks where we can breathe, and contemplate, and write inspiring things!
I wanted to thank those of you who write, call, and stop by to tell me how appreciative you are – it means the world to me, and I’m very grateful for your feedback, it keeps me going! It’s the most rewarding thing in the word to know that I’m helping and inspiring you. It also helps me know that I’m on the right track, and when it’s time to make a change – both of which are incredibly valuable.
Thank you for connecting with me, it helps me connect with you. ~ Haley
First Winter Blanket
This pattern popped up on Ravelry last week and I think it’s absolutely brilliant in its simplicity. It’s a baby blanket that turns into a bunting – genius! It uses 3 skeins of one of my favourite yarns, Malabrigo Rios, an incredibly soft, hand dyed machine washable merino wool from Uruguay. The knitting is pretty basic, just garter stitch and seed stitch, so it’s accessible to knitters of all skill levels. The pattern is FREE, so Yay!
Plus, the manufacturer, Malabrigo Yarns, is committed to employing women who lack job opportunities, ecological sustainability and ethical animal husbandry. These things are important, and while it may sound kooky, I increasingly think that all the parts of the manufacturing process end up *in* the product. Trendy isn’t enough for me – I want more, I want JOY.
Knit-o-Matic Yarns 