The idea for this sweater came about when my best friend was pregnant with her daughter. Knowing that she likes the color blue, and thinking that she may get tired of receiving all pink clothes for the baby, I decided to make a warm, thick, textured jacket in a soft, muted shade of blue with bright pink trim, and use the same pink yarn to make a matching hat and mittens. This way, nobody would mistake the baby for a boy, but she's not completely swathed in pink.
This is a great sweater for using up some stash yarn. I'm not completely sure whether the sweater will use a full two skeins of Jiffy, as I used several small balls I had leftover from other projects. You may want to wind one skein into two balls, or purchase three balls, to facilitate separating for the armholes.
This is a fairly quick and easy project for a beginner, but it's also a great mindless project perfect for kntting in front of the TV. It's sized for roughly 3-6 months, but as most of us know, babies come in all sizes at all ages. Patterns for the hat and mittens shown in the picture will be available soon.
Materials:
2 skeins Lion Brand Jiffy (MC)
small amount DK weight yarn (CC) (I used Sirdar Snuggly DK)
1 pair straight or circular size 11/8.00 mm needles, or size needed to achieve gauge
1 size H/5.00 mm crochet hook
1 10" separating zipper
Gauge:
3 sts/inch
5.25 rows/inch
Size:
Width: 21"
Length: 11"
Sleeve Length: 5 1/2"
Armhole Depth: 4 1/2"
Body:
With MC, CO 60 sts. Working in seed st, work even for 6 1/2". Next row, work across 15 sts, join new ball of yarn, work across 30 sts, join new ball, work, to end. Work even for 3 1/2". Next row, BO 6 sts, work across to last 6 sts, BO last 6 sts. Work even for 1". BO all remaining sts in pattern.
Sleeve (make 2):
CO 18 sts. Working seed st, increase as follows five times: Work 2 rows even; inc 1 st at end of next 2 rows. I like the K1f&b increase for seed st; be careful to match up the pattern correctly on the following row. 28 sts should be on needle. BO all sts.
Finishing:
Weave in ends. Sew shoulder seams. Sew sleeves to body. With CC, work SC around neckline, wrists and waist. Sew separating zipper into front placket. Block as necessary.
© Erica Hohmann 2003. May be printed and copied for personal use only. Not for sale or resale of any kind. Any questions or comments regarding the pattern can be directed to the author at elhohman @ mtholyoke.edu. Remove spaces from address to send.