Easter Egg Sweater
Materials:
About 6 oz of the main color and small
amounts of 5 contrasting colors - I used Caron Simply Soft yellow
for the main and lavender, white, light blue, rose, and green for the
contrasting colors
16" circular needles - size 6
size 6 DPN
another circular needle any size (to use as a stitch holder when uniting the body and sleeves)
sewing machine
size G crochet hook
small button
GAUGE:
Approx 5 sts and 6 1/2 rows = 1"
To fit about a 2yr old
BODY:
Cast on 100 sts in main color and join
Work 2" of K2P2 rib
Change to stockinette stitch and work 7" plain
SLEEVES:
Cast on 33 sts of main color to DPNs and join
Work 2" of K2P2 rib. You will not have an even number so
begin with K3P2 then go on with your K2P2 rib. Be sure to
ALWAYS start the round with K3P2.
Work 2" stockinette
Transfer work to the extra circular needle and make another sleeve to match.
UNITING BODY AND SLEEVES:
Put 8 sts of the body onto a DPN for holding
Put 25 of the sleeve sts onto the same circular needle that is holding
the body
Leave the remaining 8 sleeve sts on a DPN for holding
Put the next 34 sts of the body onto the same circular needle
that is holding the front of the body and the sleeve
Slip the next 8 body sts onto a DPN for holding and slip
25 sts of the second sleeve onto the circular needle holding the body and other sleeve
Put the remaining sleeve sts onto a DPN for holding
I know this sounds confusing but once you do it, you'll understand.
You are basically ending up with 34 front sts, 25 sleeve sts, 34 back sts and 25 sleeve sts on
the circular needle. There will be 8 sts under the arms both from the body and the sleeve on DPNs
for holding. The underarm sts will be woven together in a little while.
YOKE:
Work 4 rounds plain stockinette making the back of the left
shoulder the starting point. Break off all other yarns.
Increase 2 sts in the fourth round (136 sts)
Take a quick break right now and weave the underarms.
From this point, follow the
color chart for patterns. Just a note,
the heart pattern (pink) doesn't fit exactly so I ended up knitting 4 sts plain
at the end of a round. This occurrs at the back of the left shoulder so
it isn't really noticeable. If it bothers you, then feel free to use a different
pattern which will fit better ... I won't be offended :o).
DECREASE ROWS:
Round 16 - K2 tog, *K4, K2 tog* Repeat between ** to end (112 sts)
Round 24 - K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, *K3, K2 tog* Repeat between ** to end (88 sts)
Round 32 - K2, K2 tog to end (66 sts)
NECK FINISHING:
Work 1 1/2" of K2P2 ribbing
Bind off LOOSELY in pattern
At this point, I had a problem fitting the neck over my daughter's
head. You may not have this problem if you bind off loosely enough ...
cross your fingers!! If you do have the same problem I did, never fear. There is a solution. I took my beloved sweater to the sewing maching and
directly in the center back, I used a very close stitch to stitch
about 1 1/2" straight down, a couple of stitches over and then back up to the
neckline. MAKE SURE YOU CATCH ALL THE KNITTED STS WITH THE MACHINE STITCH!!
Take your scissors and snip between the two rows of machine stitching.
Then, using the crochet hook and main color of yarn, I joined at the left corner. CH1 and
sc evenly down the side, across the bottom and back up the other side of the cut. CH 3-4 and make a loop
for your button, attaching the end to your previous sc. Sew your button on the opposite side and you're FINISHED!!!
However, you may wish to go back to the underarms and do a little touching up. When I made this sweater, there were some
loose sts where I united everything all together. I just darned them together a little and no one was the wiser.
Your sweater is now ready to adorn your little cherub!!
Thanks to Elizabeth Zimmermann's book "Knitting Without Tears" for design
ideas. If you haven't read this book, go buy it RIGHT NOW! It's wonderful!!
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