Letters
In Three Nights: A Baby Sweater
Dear Ann,
March Mayhem is SO EXCITING. All this adrenalin brings to mind my favorite, reliable laugh-out-loud scene from The Big Short, starring Ryan Gosling in a less-cuddly-than-usual role (vulgarity warning) (but it’s Ryan Gosling):
I can’t wait to see which 32 patterns emerge from the first round of voting (which ends at 3:00 am EST, Friday, March 17). Check out the bracket and cast your vote here. SUCH FUN.
Buried Treasure
Spending last weekend building the brackets was a total blast. (Note: I know, we have our own definition of “total blast.” It can involve long stretches sitting in an office chair staring at a screen. Par-tay! )
I tried to limit my search to the 2016-era patterns, but invariably came across older gems I’d somehow missed in the tidal wave of patterns being published on Ravelry.
Deep in the weeds on my hunt for the Home, Baby and Toy Bracket, I discovered this beauty of a baby girl sweater: In Threes by Kelly Herdrich, from 2009.
Nearly 7000 of these babies have been knit since then. And those are just the ones people cared enough to record in their Ravelry notebooks.
In Threes spoke to me. I don’t have a baby on my list to knit for, but I do have my cache of vintage Rowan Handknit Cotton, and I am easily blown off course. I had to cast on a wee In Threes immediately.
Three evenings of easy knitting later, it’s a sweater!
The simplicity of this pattern belies its elegance. The yoke, with its three sets of three garter ridges and its gentle, smockish increases, and then the cap sleeves that are formed by knitting more sets of three ridges, centered on both sides of the yoke, and then binding them off. So neat! Such a logical way to construct a small sculpture to hold a baby’s arms.
I particularly love the detail of the three garter stitches at the side “seams:”
(picking up a theme here: threes.)
Since it doesn’t have long sleeves that will quickly become too short on a growing tot, this sweater can go from a full-length cardi for a 6-month-old to a cropped jacket or even a bolero for an older baby, even up to age 3 or so. (Three!)
It’s perfection.
I made the 12-month size, and used two and one-third balls of Rowan Handknit Cotton.
Three nights to knit, so three months to get buttons on it? I make no promises. Buttons may need to wait until there is a baby who needs a present. I generally wait to sew on buttons until the baby is in a cab on her way over.
Love,
Kay
That is one sweet little sweater!
Ha! I have one of these pretty little sweaters that I knit a couple of years ago . . . It is still waiting for buttons and the right recipient!
A scrumptious little snack for popping out in the midst of more substantial and frustrating projects! (Also, 3 balls?) 😉
Aw, that’s a very sweet sweater! I’ve got a sizeable stash of Rowan Handknit Cotton, so it may find its way to my needles.
Don’t beat yourself up about stalling on the buttons: call it wanting to wait until the baby is born. (You say ‘tvu tvu’ if I recall correctly, I say ‘pu, pu!’ )
One good pattern recommendation deserves another: My favorite knit for a little girl is Jenny Snedeker’s Ruffled Sundress. One of mine – before birth of its intended recipient and so pre-application of crocheted flower on the bodice – is featured on the pattern page.
Thanks again for the fun of March Mayhem, and the free shipping. My new apartment will soon receive its very first yarn package: part of what makes a house a home!
This March Madness is one I can get behind. Such fun! The only time I have had success in brackets at work (I know zero about basketball) was when I picked an all-Jesuit final four and Gonzaga was the Cinderella story.
I am one of those who knit this but did not get my photo posted on Ravelry. Only another knitter would understand the pleasure of such a triple fun pattern to knit. I have 3 granddaughters who could use a little sweater to keep their shoulders warm in their new spring dresses. 3 sweaters in 3 weeks?
Have you come across the G’day Baby cardigan? It’s a free top-down pattern, originally promoting an Australian yarn, but right there on Ravelry. I’ve knitted it over seventy times, supporting the new-borns on the Pine Ridge reservation. Lots of variations possible on such a basic pattern, and maximum satisfaction in finishing a few and posting them off to a deserving cause.
I am originally from South Dakota – so imagine my joy at seeing that someone is knitting for the babes on Pine Ridge! Keep up the good work, and thank you!!
Hi Shandy, thanks for this pattern tip, now in my favourites list. Found that on Rav it is using the alternate spelling of g’day in the pattern name – so need to search for Gidday Baby http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gidday-baby
(And serendipitously I have knitted my MIL a cardi using the White Gum Wool the designer specifies. The sheep that provide the fleece for this yarn live about two hours away from me in Tassie!)
Thanks for this lovely pattern find. I have a stash of Rowan Handknit Cotton and just today heard that one of my sister’s carers had a baby girl earlier in the week, and that her replacement carer has a five month old baby girl, I’d been wondering all day what I could make for them and now problem solved!
Ooh, YES!! Thanks for that! (Also, thanks to Helen for mentioning that adorable Ruffled Sundress!)
so easily tempted – i now have the pattern
I have made several of those sweaters for my daughter and she gets 2-3 years of wear out of each one. One of my all time favorite sweater patterns!
That is a delight! I would love to knit an adorable cotton baby sweater, and the last time I looked at my stash there was some cotton yarn I had completely forgotten about…SAD. May I ask if cotton baby garments can be machine-washed? I am always hesitant to give handwash-only gifts unless I know where the recipient stands on the general question of handwash/machinewash. It’s the only reason I still knit an occasional pair of superwash wool socks.
And by the way, I think your timing on adding buttons is perfect. In a cab on the way over? Sure! It’s if the baby is driving that you may be cutting it too fine.
I give a lingerie bag with each knitted gift, even though I mostly use cotton or washable wool (who wants to burden a new mom with a hand-wash item, or the bad feelings of having felted a knitted gift?) with instructions that it is washable, but recommended to use the bag to protect it, or to protect your other laundry from lint!
Very thoughtful idea! I usually just recommend turning handknit socks inside out before washing if a person wants to extend the life of the stitch definition, but including a lingerie bag would be better. And would also save explanations of “stitch definition” 😉
I’ve often skeined up cotton yarn, tied it in four or five places, put it in a lingerie bag and run it through the washer and dryer to preshrink it.
Thanks for that tip – never would have thought of it!
did you just follow the pattern as is and had no loose stitches at the underarms? Your photos look great. Lots of people talk about that as a problem in the projects on Ravelry and just wondering if you followed the Tech Knitter suggestions people refer to.
I know what they are talking about. I think next time I’d use a firmer cast-on for the underarm stitches. I was thinking to crochet around the sleeve opening. But now that it’s blocked it looks great and I am unlikely to fiddle further.
thanks!
I love the last line of this post!!! Waiting til the baby is in a cab on their way over…such wonderful procrastination!!!!
I often suggest this pattern for knitters nervous about venturing into sweater knitting. It is a lovely pattern, a delight to knit, and the quick results are so empowering.
Oh my gosh, I have made so many of these sweaters! This is, bar none, one of my fave patterns EVER.
I just knit one of these! I used Juniper Moon Cumulus and made it a wee bit bigger and did some other mods: no garter ridges in the increases. It’s adorable and one of my all time fave baby knits.
I love this! I’ll have to add it to my queue. I’m seven weeks pregnant with my first child, and plan to knit All The Things once I’m past the first trimester.
My heart appreciated and enjoyed this post very much. Sadly, my mind can’t let go of its need for long sleeves in a baby sweater.
I have enjoyed making the 5 hr baby sweater (there is even a masculine version).
My all-time fav baby knit is EZ’s February Baby sweater (once having gotten over the fact that I had to “fill in the blanks” with this pattern). I just love the simple four row pattern repeat of the Gull Lace. It’s very relaxing and also, for some reason, reminds me of a menorah. Go figure.
I found my photos and posted Elise’s sweater on Ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Suzzanne/in-threes-a-baby-cardigan
Thanks, Kay, for the reminder of how pleasant it was to knit this sweater. For me it was like knitting the Original Prayer Shawl with the repetition of the number 3. https://www.shawlministry.com/instructions.html
I knit this little sweater last year of my grand-daughter, in a squishy hot pink. Loved it.
Fab colour and a lovely design , love that you wait till the recipient is in the cab , know that feeling!
Thanks for sharing this cute little cardi. Of course, now I want to make one as well. I’ve got enough Handknit Cotton just laying around without a particular purpose so off I go!
Oh, crap, just what I need — another adorable thing to knit! I have exactly enough Knit Picks Shine worsted, plus enough Rowan Calmer ::sigh:: to make another two. This looks like a great pattern.
I’ve made several of these as gifts: Short and sweet!