Baby Tulip Cardigan

I have been hard at work on this new knitting pattern, which I am calling Baby Tulip Cardigan. It has taken a lot of thought, and knitting. Cardigans just seem the best sort of garment for a baby, with none of that squeezing over the head of a jumper. The tulips are smaller than those on my Tulip Hat, but knitted in a very similar way. Each flower uses two separate lengths of yarn - one for the leaves and one for the flower, which are not carried between the flowers on the reverse of the work. I love the look of the raised flowers, but put them only on the front of the cardigan, as I felt they might be a bit bumpy on the back for a lying or sitting baby.

The pattern comes with instructions for four sizes (0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months and 9-12 months). I have written sized patterns before, but this one was slightly more complicated, as the flowers had to be placed on each version. (The pattern contains a lot of brackets, and I hope will be fairly straightforward to follow.)

 

 

I have knitted Size 1, 2 and 4 - each one in a different DK wool that I had in my stash. Some of the places where I sell suggest that you will do better by recommending a specific brand of yarn, but I thought knitting with different yarns was a good way to test the pattern. The cardigan only takes 70g to 120g of main shade wool, depending on the size you knit, plus small amounts for the flowers, so it really is a good way to use up some yarn left over from another project. I used Stylecraft Sweet Dreams for Size 1, some North Ronaldsay DK for Size 2, and some Rowan Designer DK which I think came from my sister for Size 4. (Just looked this up, and apparantly it was discontinued in the 1980's, so that has been in my stash for a while!)

 

I like them all, and am rather fond of Size 4 - with each flower being a different colour, and the different coloured buttons at the front. Spent a lot of time in a haberdashery picking these out.

  

 

 

But what now to do with all these baby garments. I don't seem to know anyone with a baby, so apart from no baby models, I have ended up putting my samples in my Etsy Shop, along with my sample Tulip Hats.

The pattern is available on Ravelry, Etsy and LoveKnitting.

My resolve was to design more knitting this year, although I have been a little distracted by printing, walking, and now the gardening year is beginning! I have quite a few more ideas brewing, so time to start my next design.