Knitted Little Baby Sweater
Oh, a knitted little baby sweater, how adorable is that! There's something so charming and heartwarming about tiny knitted garments, especially for the little ones. Just picturing a sweet little baby bundled up in a cozy, handmade sweater brings a smile to my face. The intricate stitches, soft yarn, and love poured into creating such a garment make it a truly special and thoughtful gift. Whether it's passed down through generations or carefully crafted for a new arrival, a knitted baby sweater is sure to be treasured as a precious keepsake.
Purl Soho’s Quartz, 65% merino wool and 35% suri alpaca. Each skein of this fingering-weight yarn is 420 yards/ 100 grams.
Main Color (MC): 1 skein; approximately 215 yards required. We used the color Peony Pink.
Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein; approximately 60 yards required. We used the color Autumn Oak.
US 3 (3.25 mm), 16- or 24-inch circular knitting needles
Four 3/8-inch buttons.
NOTE: This is enough yarn to make two oppositely colored sweaters!
GAUGE
28 stitches and 56 rows (28 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
SIZE
Newborn-6 Months
Finished Chest Circumference: 18¼ inches, buttoned
Finished Length from Bottom Hem to Top Shoulder: 9 inches
Finished Length from Bottom Hem to Underarm: 5½ inches
CARRYING UP YARN
For a lot less work at the end, instead of cutting the yarn when you finish a stripe, carry it loosely up the side by holding it in front of the working yarn as you knit the first stitch of the next row.
PATTERN
BODY
With Main Color (MC), cast on 124 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Starting with a wrong-side row…
Knit 5 rows.
Carrying up yarn between stripes and starting with a right-side row…
*With Contrast Color (CC), knit 2 rows.
With MC, knit 6 rows.
Repeat from * 7 more times. [9 MC stripes and 8 CC stripes]
With CC, knit 2 rows.
With MC, knit 5 rows, ending with a right-side row. [10 MC stripes and 9 CC stripes; piece measures approximately 5.5 inches from cast-on edge]
Do not cut yarns.
DIVIDE FRONTS + BACK
Division Row (wrong side): Still using MC, k15, bind off 31 stitches for Left Underarm, k32 (includes stitch remaining on right needle after binding off), bind off 31 stitches for Right Underarm, knit to end of row. [62 stitches remain: 15 stitches for Left Front; 32 stitches for Back; 15 stitches for Right Front]
RIGHT FRONT
Working just the 15 Right Front stitches and starting with a right-side row…
*With CC, knit 2 rows.
With MC, knit 6 rows.
Repeat from * 2 more times. [3 MC stripes and 3 CC stripes from Division Row]
With right side facing you, bind off knitwise to end of row.
Cut yarns.
BACK
With right side facing you, working just the 32 Back stitches and joining yarns as needed…
*With CC, knit 2 rows.
With MC, knit 6 rows.
Repeat from * 5 more times. [6 MC stripes and 6 CC stripes from Division Row]
With right side facing you, bind off knitwise to end of row.
Cut yarns.
LEFT FRONT
With right side facing you, working just the 15 Left Front stitches and joining yarns as needed…
*With CC, knit 2 rows.
With MC, knit 6 rows.
Repeat from * 2 more times. [3 MC stripes and 3 CC stripes from Division Row]
With right side facing you and still using MC, bind off knitwise to end of row, leaving last stitch on needle.
Cut CC, but do not cut MC.
LEFT BUTTON BAND
With right side still facing you, rotate piece 90 degrees clockwise so Left Front selvage edge is at top.
Continuing with MC, pick up and knit 50 stitches between garter ridges along Left Front edge to bottom corner. [51 stitches total]
Starting with a wrong-side row…
Knit 2 rows.
Buttonhole Row (wrong side): K11, [yarn over (yo), knit 2 together (k2tog), k10] 3 times, yo, k2tog, k2. [4 buttonholes]
Starting with a right-side row…
Knit 2 rows.
With right side facing you, bind off to end of row.
Cut yarn.
RIGHT BUTTON BAND
With right side still facing you, rotate piece 180 degrees so Right Front selvage edge is at top.
With MC and beginning at bottom corner of Right Front, pick up and knit 51 stitches between garter ridges along Right Front edge to top corner (be sure to pick up and knit first stitch between Right Front cast on and first garter ridge).
Starting with a wrong-side row…
Knit 2 rows.
Buttonhole Row (wrong side): K3, [yo, k2tog, k10] 4 times. [4 buttonholes]
Starting with a right-side row…
Knit 2 rows.
With right side facing you, bind off to end of row.
Cut yarn.
RIGHT SLEEVE
Orient piece with right side of Back facing you and right selvage of Back at top.
With MC and leaving a foot-long tail, start at bottom right corner of Back and pick up and knit 24 stitches between garter ridges to top corner of Back; turn work so wrong side is facing you and use a Cable Cast On to cast on 12 stitches; turn work so right side is facing you and making sure cast-on stitches aren’t twisted, pick up and knit 12 stitches down Right Front selvage. [48 stitches total]
**Starting with a wrong-side row and MC…
Knit 5 rows.
*With CC, knit 2 rows.
With MC, knit 6 rows.
Repeat from * 3 more times. [5 MC stripes and 4 CC stripes]
With right side facing you, bind off to end of row.
Cut yarns, leaving an 18-inch tail of MC.
LEFT SLEEVE
Orient piece with right side facing you and selvage of Left Front at top.
With MC and leaving a foot-long tail, start at bottom corner of Left Front and pick up and knit 12 stitches between garter ridges to top corner of Left Front; turn work so wrong side is facing you and use a Cable Cast On to cast on 12 stitches; turn work so right side is facing you and making sure cast-on stitches aren’t twisted, pick up and knit 24 stitches down left selvage of Back. [48 stitches total]
Repeat from ** of Right Sleeve.
SEAM SLEEVES
Fold piece so sweater is properly assembled and Back is facing you.
*Thread Left Sleeve’s bind-off tail onto tapestry needle, and starting at bind-off edge, sew Sleeve edges together through four garter stitch ridges, one MC stripe and one CC stripe.
Fold Body’s Underarm in half and insert tapestry needle just under Underarm’s bind-off edge at its halfway point, then seam together back Sleeve and back Underarm, sewing back and forth between Sleeve edge stitches as before and below Underarm bind-off edge.
With Front facing you…
Thread Left Sleeve’s pick-up tail onto tapestry needle and seam together front Sleeve and front Underarm, as you did for Back.
With Front still facing you, repeat from * for Right Sleeve, sewing front Underarm to front of Sleeve first, then flipping sweater over to sew back Sleeve to back Underarm.
FINISHING
Sew buttons on top of either set of buttonholes. Traditionally, buttons for girls go on Left Front and for boys on Right Front.
Weave in the ends and gently block your Little Sweater!