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Thursday 25 February 2016

Easiest baby jumper ever ...

I've just finished this little jumper. And I think it's the easiest, quickest item of baby-wear I've ever made. I've got a feeling that it's going to become my go-to pattern for every time a new baby arrives in my circle.


This should fit a little one of 6 months to a year old. It measures 24 cm/ 9.5 " from armpit to armpit, and takes 3, 50g/ 100m  balls of my Costa Brava Knitting double knitting variegated bamboo yarn in Cinnabar & Spice. In stocking stitch my tension comes out as 22 stitches x 28 rows for 10cm².

It's knit in the round up to the armpits, and then the front and back are knit separately. The stitches for the arms are picked up from the armholes, and knit from the armhole down to the wrist. And it's all worked in stocking stitch for ease and speed. The wonderful variegated yarn does its stuff to create a series of spontaneous stripes that provides plenty of interest without the need for any fancy stitch-work.

Just read on for the pattern:


Let's start on the body of the jumper with the bottom cuff.

Cast on 100 stitches on 3.25 mm circular needles. Join to create a circle taking care not to get any twists in your knitting. Mark the beginning of the row with a stitch marker so that you know where you are.

Work in Knit 1/ Purl 1 rib for 3 cm/ 1.25".

Change to 3.75 mm needles

On the next row we're going to work in stocking stitch (plain knit stitch when we're working in the round) and we're going to add an extra 10 stitches as follows: * K1, Knit into the front and the back of the next stitch (KFB), K8*. Repeat from * to * to the end of the row, by which time you will have increased the total number of stitches on the needles by 10 to 110 stitches.



Carry on knitting in the round until the body measures 20 cm, and then start to shape the arm holes.

At this point it's useful to mark the midpoint of the row, so that you can identify the back and the front, which will now be worked back and forth in the flat in stocking stitch (knit odd rows/ purl even rows) so that they are shaped differently.

Shape the left front

Row 1: Cast off 5 stitches. Knit 20 stitches and slip the following 5 stitches onto a stitch holder. They are going to form the bottom edge of the V-shaped neck.
Row 2: Purl 1, purl 2 together (P 2 tog), and purl back across the row to the left armhole.
Row 3 (and all following odd rows): Knit
Row 4: P 1, P2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 6: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 8: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 10: Purl.
Row 12: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 14: Purl.
Row 16: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 18: Purl.
Row 20: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 22: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 24: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 26: P1, P 2 tog, and purl to end.
Row 28: Purl.

Cast off knit-wise.

Shape the right front

Join yarn to work the right front.

Row 1: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row
Row 2: Cast off 5 stitches, purl to the end of the row.
Row 3: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 4 (and all following even rows) purl.
Row 5: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 7: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 9: knit.
Row 11: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 13: knit.
Row 15: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 17: knit.
Row 19: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 21: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 23: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 25: knit.
Row 27: K1, K 2 tog, knit to the end of the row.
Row 28 purl.

Cast off knit-wise.

The back

Row 1: cast off 5 stitches, and knit to the end of the row.
Row 2: cast off 5 stitches and purl to the end of the row.

Rows 3 to 22: work back and forth in the flat in stocking stitch.

Row 23: knit 10. Cast off 25 stitches.

Work rows 24 to 28 in stocking stitch and cast off knit-wise.

Rejoin the wool to knit the other side of the back.

Work rows 24 to 28 in stocking stitch and cast off knit-wise.

Sew the right and left shoulder seams, which will create the round of the armhole on either side into which the sleeves will be knit.

The sleeves (both the same, and both knit in the round from the shoulder down)

With the right side facing you, and using 3.75 mm needles pick up 44 stitches evenly all the way around the armhole, and mark the beginning of the row with a stitch marker.

Rows 1 to 7: knit.
Row 8: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.
Rows 9 to 15: knit.
Row 16: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.
Rows 17 to 23: knit.
Row 24: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.
Rows 25 to 31: knit.
Row 32: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.
Rows 33 to 35: knit.
Row 36: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.
Rows 37 to 39: knit.
Row 40: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.
Rows 41 to 43: knit.
Row 44: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.
Rows 45 to 47: knit.
Row 48: k 1, k2 tog. Knit to the end of the row.

Change to 3.25 mm needles to knit the cuff. You will now have 36 stitches on the needles. Work in Knit 1/ Purl 1 rib for 10 rows. Cast off in rib.

Shape the V neck.


I've shaped the V-neck with a mitred edge at the bottom.

With the right side facing and using 3.25 mm needles pick up a total of 76 stitches all the way around the neck, slipping the 5 stitches from the stitch holder onto the needles as well. Start the row immediately to the right of these 5 stitches, so that they will be the last 5 stitches of your row. Mark the beginning of the row with a stitch marker.

The neck is actually shaped like this freehand drawing, and I've written in the number of stitches that you need to pick up on each edge so that they are evenly distributed all the way around the neck. The 5 stitches at the bottom of the blunt V-shape are the stitches from the stitch holder on the front of the jumper. You should mark the middle one of these 5 stitches with a stitch holder. It is going to sit at the centre of the V neck, and we're going to mitre the shape of the neck by decreasing on either side of it to pull things in for a nice, neat shape.


Work 3 rows in K1/ P1 rib all the way around.
Row 4. This is knit in K1/ P1 rib all the way around, but on either side of the marked stitch at the centre of the bottom edge of the V you must purl 2 together.
Row 5. Work in K1/ P1 rib.
Row 6: repeat row 4, so that there is a further stitch decrease, on either side of the central stitch.
Rows 7 and 8: work in K1/ P1 rib.
Cast off in rib.

Darn in your loose ends and ta-dah! You're done!



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