When it comes to quick projects, baby clothes, especially for newborns, are super quick knits. They are also bite size pieces of knitting that are perfect for learning new skills, like increasing, making button holes, etc. My dear friend Mare wrote her
Newbie and Baby Cardigan pattern and asked some people in our knitting group to test it for her. Coincidentally, just as Mare sent out the pattern, I bumped into my cousin at the market. It turns out my cousin is expecting a girl in December, so a quick little baby cardigan turned out to be the perfect project. Serendipitously, I happened to have exactly 50 g of DK weight yarn, Sirdar Cotton DK in Light Taupe, on hand.
If you have never knit a sweater before, this is definitely a good pattern to start with. It starts out easily with a few rows of garter stitch, and after a few rows of increases and plain knitting the cardigan quickly takes shape. The most wonderful thing about this pattern is how simple it is. It makes for a good project to take on the go and knits up satisfyingly quickly (for those of us that need instant gratification).
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| Newborn cardigan just after dividing sleeves from body |
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| One sleeve finished |
The cardigan's simplicity also makes it perfect for embellishments. I browsed through Pinterest to get inspiration for some simple embroidered flowers, picked up some solid green, and variegated pink and purple embroidery floss, sat down and got to work. In order to keep things simple, I decided to use
duplicate stitch (aka Swiss darning) to apply some flowers onto the back and fronts of the cardigan. I must say, I never thought that I would be recommending duplicate stitch because I used to loathe the finishing process and really wanted to be done with the project. Now, after countless hours and stitches, I've come to appreciate the little finishing touches that turn good hand knits into amazing hand knits.
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| Front |
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| Back |
