Baby Pullover Sweater - Knit in the Round
By Kimmy
KIMMYZ @ KP
This little pullover sweater is for the first born child of my co-worker. His little girl is due any day now. I didn’t use any pattern, but I did write down the instructions in case anyone would like to make this particular 6 – 9 month old size. (Sorry there are no other sizes in my pattern.) All information regarding materials, measurements, etc. can be found in my written instructions (Microsoft Word document). The sweater has no seams except for a few stitches underneath the arms when the sweater is completed. Except for the collar, it is worked entirely in the round (from top down) on circular needles. I did do some yarn piecing on the sleeves in order to get the self-striping colors to match the body. I think it looks nicer when the stripes match, but it is considerable extra work and this is definitely optional.
Although I purchased the two balls of yarn at Big Lots for only $1. per skein, this is excellent quality, machine washable yarn with a slight sheenå better:
Circular Top-Down Pullover Sweater with Ribbing for hems and collar
Note: There are no seams in this sweater except for a few stitches underneath the arms. I like Cat Bordhi’s method using of two circular knitting needles. For me, it’s easier than the Magic Loop Method (done with one circular needle) or using DP knitting needles.
Gift for: Abhi Jain's Baby Girl
Size: 6 – 9 months
Completed: 10/9/11
MATERIALS:
GALA yarn: (Mixed fiber: Acrylic, Polyester, Nylon) – TWO (50 gr) balls in self-striping baby colors for main part of sweater. Optional contrast color requires an extra skein. I used Caron “Simply Soft” for the ribbing, collar and front tie. The GALA yarn is made in Turkey, and has a slight luster to it. It’s a high quality washable yarn. I’m not as impressed with the Caron “Simply Soft” which has a much looser twist and tends to pill. The latter was the only pink color I could find to match at the time. I don’t like 100% acrylic yarn too much.
GAUGE DATA:
Gauge (Stocking Stitch over 4 in = 10 cm): 18.0 sts by 24.0 rows.
Body & last part of collar are knit with size 6 circular needles (US)
Ribbing and first part of collar are knit with size 4 circular needles (US)
Size G crochet hook and sewing thread for bow tie at neck
MEASUREMENTS of my finished sweater:
Circumference under arms: 19 inches (48.3 cm)
Circumference at widest part of chest: 21 inches (53.3 cm)
Circumference of ribbing at bottom: 19 inches (48.3 cm)
Sweater length from shoulder to bottom of ribbing: 10.5 inches (26.7 cm)
Sleeve length from base of neck edge to bottom of sleeve cuff ribbing: 10.25 inches (26 cm)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Note: If you would like to see how I do my increases, check out this Web page:
I like the "M1L" method the best, because it’s fairly invisible.
START AT NECKLINE:
1. Cast on 48 sts on size 6 circular needle loosely. (Babies have relatively large heads for their size.) Join the circle, taking care not to twist the stitches.
ROUND YOKE:
1. With size 6 needles work round yoke shaping, increasing from top to bottom of yoke as follows.
Rounds 1 to 4: Work even on 48 sts.
Round 5: Inc 24 sts evenly across the row to total 72 sts.
([K2, M1] 24 times.)
Rounds 6 to 9: Work even on 72 sts.
Round 10: Inc 24 sts evenly across the row to total 96 sts.
([K3, M1] 24 times.)
Rounds 11 to 15: Work even on 96 sts.
Round 16: Inc 24 sts evenly across the row to total 120 sts.
([K4, M1] 24 times.)
Rounds 17 to 20: Work even on 120 sts.
Round 21: Inc 24 sts evenly across the row to total 144 sts.
([K5, M1] 24 times.)
Rounds 22 to 27: Work even on 144 sts.
2. Split the yoke into front, back and sleeve sections as follows. Starting at beg of round, slip sts for each section to separate holders (I used contrasting pieces of yarn as holders.): 27 sts for right sleeve, 45 sts for front, 27 sts for left sleeve and the remaining 45 sts for back can stay on the needle.
BODY (ARMHOLE TO HEM):
1. With right side of back facing and Stocking Stitch, start where back joins left sleeve. Cast on 4 sts for underarm, work sts from front holder, cast on 4 sts for second underarm, and finally work across back section. Total 98 sts for body. Mark the beginning of the round.
2. Work even until piece measures 4.7 ins (28 rounds) from armhole.
3. Hem. Change to size 4 needles. Work 10 rounds in K1P1 ribbing. Cast off remaining sts loosely.
SLEEVE (ARMHOLE TO HEM):
1. With right side facing and size 6 needles, re-join yarn and work sts from right sleeve holder. Cast on 4 sts for underarm. Total 31 sts for sleeve. Join the circle, taking care not to twist the sts. Mark the sleeve 'seam' midway on the underarm.
2. Work even until sleeve measures 5.5 ins (33 rounds). Dec 8 sts evenly across the last row (23 sts remaining).
3. Hem. Change to size 4 needles. Work 7 rows in K1P1 ribbing. Cast off remaining sts loosely.
4. Work left sleeve in the same way.
FLAT FRONT NECK SHIRT COLLAR: (I used Cat Bordhi’s method of 2 circular knitting needles, but knitting back and forth instead of in the round.)
- Starting at center front, pick up 48 sts from the neckline, plus an extra 2 stitches at center front of neck. = 50 sts total for neck. (So there will be 25 stitches on each circular knitting needle.) The two extra stitches are to create matching front edges of collar. Use this method to create the matching front collar edges:
“Slip the first stitch of each row (knitwise). Purl the last stitch of each row.”
2. In between the above stitches of each row, work 4 rows in K1, P1 ribbing stitch, working back and forth in rows, keeping the centre front opening. Switch to size 6 needles to work remainder of collar at a looser gauge. I worked 6 more rows with the larger needles + one last cast-off row. Cast off very loosely.
FINISHING:
1. Graft or sew the sleeve and body sts together at the underarms.
2. Weave in any loose ends.
3. With crochet hook size G, crochet a chain long enough to tie a bow. Sew tie on with needle and thread at center front neck edge.