knitted: easy baby cardigan, originally uploaded by earthchick.

Our nephew and his wife gave birth to their first baby, a boy (we only ever seem to have boys in our family, on all sides!), in February. I decided after my last BSJ that I didn’t want to make another one for awhile. It’s a fun, fast, cute pattern, but: a) I was tired of it, and b) I’m not convinced that non-knitters think it’s as cute as we knitterly types do. I needed new go-to baby sweater pattern, and this one fit the bill perfectly .

pattern: Easy Baby Cardigan , from Knitting Pure & Simple
yarn: Socks that Rock, Heavyweight, In the Navy , .75 skeins (~262 yards)
needles: size 5
dates: Feb 21-24
mods: I was concerned about running out of yarn, so I opted to omit the hood. I thought the collar was a super-cute option. I also omitted the ties and went with a button instead. I don’t really like ties much for baby stuff – they’re fiddly, they come undone easily, and new parents might be concerned about choking hazards. So I just crocheted a little button tab and found this slamming red button – my favorite part of the sweater.

verdict: A definite winner. Fast, easy, fun, and it couldn’t be cuter (especially in this yarn – I *love* STR for baby knits). The new parents seemed happy with it, too. They even dressed their little man in this sweater for Easter, which did this knitter’s heart good.

At this point, I ordinarily might declare this my new go-to baby sweater pattern. But that was before Grumperina released her new baby sweater pattern, Budgie – a perfect pattern for handspun – and I queued it right up. The next baby in my life will definitely be getting this one.

raveled