Thursday, September 18, 2008

Cardigan Catch-Up

Here's something I made during the blog hiatus:


It's a little cropped cardi for my Rosebud. My daughter will tell you she's a little bit of a tomboy and a little bit of a girly girl, and that's about right. She's the kid in the frilly dress crossing the monkey bars again and again. The girl with the gaudy cocktail ring on her calloused, dirty hands. It's the girly part of her that understands the need for a little white cardigan in your wardrobe, but it's the tomboy in her that led me to this combination of pattern and yarn.


Pattern: Eyelet Yoke Cardigan, a free pattern from Lion Brand. It's also called the Fresh Picked Cardigan, but it's the same pattern nonetheless.
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, white, 2 skeins

Notes: When she grew out her commercially-made little white cardigan, I knew I wanted to knit her a replacement, but I was really disappointed at the lack of patterns available for kids her size. I know I could have written a pattern, or sized down or up an existing pattern, but I was not looking for a challenge here. I just wanted to knit a cute little cardi for my girl.

Proving that I am not a complete pattern snob, I came upon this Lion Brand pattern on Ravelry. I wasn't totally thrilled with the proportions of it; the pattern calls for 3/4 sleeves, but I think they are a little too short, the sweater a bit too cropped. I realized, however, that sleeves of this length do not need to be pulled up for worm-digging expeditions, and will likely keep the sweater cleaner overall.

Knitters with children, get yourself some Cascade Sierra and make some garments for your children. It is an ideal yarn for kid knits, especially if you prefer natural fibers. It's very easy care. I wash it in the machine on the gentle cycle with cold water, and they lay it flat until it's almost dry, and then throw it in the dryer on low for about 10 minutes, and it looks great! It's an 80/20 cotton/wool blend, so it is lightweight and doesn't stretch like cotton. Having made a sweater with it before, I can attest to its durability. Mr S wears his DGE sweater quite a bit, and there is no sign on wear at all, and because of the wool, it has not stretched out of shape either. Plus, it is an amazing value -- I think I paid $12 total for this sweater. It's a great worsted yarn, really.



Still, though, I'm disappointed that there aren't many patterns for kids her age and size. There's a lot for babies and toddlers, and of course, plenty for adult women, but not a huge amount of patterns for bigger kids. Leave me a comment if you have some good pattern sources for kids -- I need them!

10 comments:

Christie said...

I'll have to give the Sierra a try. And I have no idea where to find kids patterns. Sounds like a good market to tackle though! You could make millions!

Bridget said...

That sweater is cute - but the little girl is much cuter!

LaurieM said...

Cute! And I think you're right about the cropped sleeves. Plus, your little girl doesn't want to fuss with her clothes. She just wants to look adorable in them!

If you search a used book store, you may find vintage Patons books that have patterns for under twelves. Some of those retro looks are coming back in.

Actually, I think I have one of those books. Send me an e-mail and I'll scan you a picture.

diana said...

There's a book called "Yarn Girl's Guide to Bigger Kids Knits" or something like that. It's for the 4-12 crowd - really nice, not-fussy sweaters - and they show each sweater on a boy and on a girl. If I had the time I'd make every one of them for Gus.

Also Debbie Bliss has a similar book, "Junior Knits" for the same age crowd, also with nice wearable sweaters.

That cardi is adorable. Knit on!!

Anonymous said...

pretty rosebud!

nova said...

It's a very cute little sweater! My first thought was, "wow, a white sweater...for a kid!" But I think the shortness and washability will lend itself to keeping it clean. Thanks for the yarn rec. too. I am always on the lookout for good quality yarns for kid knits.

Madge said...

Yay for practical, hard playing girly girls. And their moms who knit them cute sweaters.

Ann said...

Rosebud looks beautiful! I love the sweater -- it does look like the perfect little girl cardie ...

Anonymous said...

She's so adorable and the cardigan looks so cute on her! I love white sweaters on little girls - so sweet.

Anonymous said...

I love the Phildar patterns for kids - a bit different, great colour combinations. Not too hard to knit from French, but they also have some books in English.

Here's the English site http://www.phildar.com/

And have a look at this Danish site for inspiration! I love these patterns...

http://www.honsefodder.dk/
(click on "sider fra bogen" - pages from the book)