Res Originalis: Cabled Baby Sweater

As the last in our series, I present to you my very own Cabled Baby Sweater, made for the unknown-gendered future child of my best friend Sarah:

Pattern: By yours truly
Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK, 2 skeins of Bison (728)
Needles: US 6 straight needles for the cabling, US 7 16" circular needle for the body
Notions: 4 small buttons (got mine for a good price at an antique store)
Size: roughly 3-6 months
Start to Finish: September 21-27, 2007

Originally, I was going to write this out and offer it up as a free pattern on The Yarniad. I even went so far as to meticulously record every stitch I made while knitting this sweater. However, when I was done, I realized the construction was so much like that of the Placket Neck Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts that I couldn't send it out into the internet without facing some serious copyright charges. So, instead, here's a brief description of how I made this baby sweater:

I started with the cabled band -- it's the same braided cable as in yesterday's socks -- and knit it vertically. When it was as long as I wanted the sweater to be around, I seamed the ends together and picked up stitches all around the top of the band (which seems to be a little less obvious when using a more felty yarn).



I knit in the round for a few more inches and, after joining the little arms, started the raglan decreases (every other row). After two decreases, I started the side opening by knitting flat. On the first row (wrong side), I cast on 5 stitches at the very beginning for the button band and knit those 5 stitches on every subsequent row and did the raglan decreases one stitch in from there. I continued the raglan shaping and placed the button holes evenly along the right side edge, the last one being on the very last knit row.



When I got to the point where I thought I was done, I purled a row on the RS to turn. I then knit a few more rows in stockinette and increased a couple of times at the raglan lines (a la Hourglass Sweater). I folded down the little collar and sewed the live stitches into place. I then sewed down the button band, added the buttons, wove in ends, seamed, blocked, and voila!