Baby Sweater Knitting Pattern for Beginners

Baby Sweater Knitting Pattern for Beginners: The CHALTEN Sweater

Hello 🙂

It’s been a long time since I last posted a FREE baby clothing pattern, right? So here I am, after many testings, with the simplest baby sweater ever. Really. Read on if you don’t believe me.

My CHALTEN Baby Sweater knitting pattern is PERFECT for beginners. If you never knitted a sweater before, give it a try! All you need to know is how to cast on stitches, how to bind them off, and how to knit in garter stitch (yes, the more basic stitch: just k all sts, all the time). You can’t say no to the challenge!

General description for the pattern

The pullover is worked flat in a breeze  Both front and back are knitted from bottom up, adding stitches at the sides to make the sleeves in the same piece. It has 4 seams: one for each side and bottom part of the sleeves, and one for each top part of the sleeve / shoulder.

It also has a tab knitted in the back part (see the close-up photo of my orange sweater) to increase the neck opening and make more comfortable the process of putting it on to your baby 

And… no buttonholes needed! The final texture of the knitted tab is loose enough to pass a button through without needing a buttonhole.

You can find the entire CHALTEN Baby Sweater knitting pattern in this post, including notes explaining how to make it for using the cuffs folded, make it short sleeved, construction tips, and guides to help you in the sewing process.

Charity knitting

If you have some yarn and time to spare, this is a wonderful pattern for charity knitting. You can even use leftover yarn from other projects and get cute results, as I did with the gray / salmon sweater you can see below.

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–> If you want to see this pattern in Ravelry to add it to your favorites or to your projects, click here.

You can also purchase the PDF file for this pattern in my website HERE (50 % OFF from today until April 15th, discount already applied) or in my Etsy Shop HERE (use coupon code CHALTEN from today through April 15th to get a 50 % off).

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Remember that if you support me in Patreon you already have a copy of this pattern ready to download in my Patreon page.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Color codes are the same as in the written pattern.

0 to 6 months. Length 10.25’’ (26 cm). Width: 9.5’’ (24 cm)
6 to 12 months. Length 11.5’’ (29 cm). Width: 10.25’’ (26 cm)
12 to 18 months. Length 13.5’’ (34 cm). Width: 12.25’’ (31 cm)
2 years. Length 13’’ (33 cm). Width: 14.5’’ (37 cm)

MATERIALS

• 1 straight needle US 13 (9 mm) for Cast On and Bind Off sts.
• 1 pair of straight needles US 11 (8 mm)
• Super Chunky / Super Bulky weighted yarn: approx. 355 yd (324 m) / 434 yd (399 m) / 603 yd (230 m) / 552 yd (648 m). Or worsted / aran yarn used double (double the yardage)
• 2 large buttons
• tapestry needle to sew and weave in yarn ends, and scissors.

GAUGE / TENSION

11 sts x 22 rows in garter stitch with US 11 (8 mm) needles = 4” x 4” (10 cm x 10 cm)

ABBREVIATIONS

• CO: cast on
• RS: right side / WS: wrong side
• st: stitch
• k: knit

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NOTES TO READ before starting

I always cast on and bind off stitches with larger needles than I use for the main work. This prevent my cast on and bind off rows from being too tight.

Slip first stitch on every row as if you were to knit it, but without knitting it (except on the first row). It will form a neat and sturdy border, and you can use the “bumps” left by this slipped k stitch to sew the sides at the end.

FOLDED CUFFS AND STYLE

• If you prefer to use the sweater with folded cuffs (it looks so cute!) you can cast on 5 more stitches when you reach the last increase row to form the sleaves at each side.
• If you follow the instructions as presented, and use the sweater with the cuffs folded, you’ll end up with a 3/4 sleaved sweater.
• Alternatively, you can make a lovely short sleeved shirt. Just choose your favorite cotton yarn, cast on 6 or 7 fewer stitches when shaping the sleeves, and fold the cuff at the end.

 

 

 

“EYELETS” TAB

• In one of my test knits (the green sweater you see in the photos) I made eyelets in the tab and decided they are not necessary. The final texture of the knitted tab is loose enough to pass a button through without needing an eyelet. Therefore, in all other test knits I’ve made I omitted making them. It worked perfectly and with less work! 🙂
• You can choose where to knit the tab: right side or left, in the back (buttons on front) or in the front piece. I’ve tried them all! There is no difference in the finished sweater other than the look, so I recommend you to place it wherever you prefer. If you follow the instructions as presented below you’ll produce a sweater with a tab in the right side, from back to front (buttons sewn in the front piece), just as the orange one you see in the left.

 

 

 

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Baby Sweater Knitting Pattern: INSTRUCTIONS

A) FRONT

1) CO 27 (30, 36, 39) sts with US 13 (9 mm) needles, leaving a long tail of yarn to use it for sewing the sides later.

2) With US 11 (8 mm) work in garter stitch until your piece has a total length of 6.75’’ (7.5’’, 8.75’’, 9.5’’) [17 cm (19 cm, 22 cm, 24 cm)].

Next, you will cast on stitches at the end of each row, to shape the sleeves.

3) Cast on 4 (4, 4, 5) stitches at the end of the row, 4 (4, 6, 6) times. Then cast on 8 (12, 8, 9) stitches at the end of the row, 2 times. When you finish casting on all extra stitches you’ll have a total of 59 (70, 76, 87) stitches in your needle.

4) Continue knitting in garter stitch until you reach a total length of 9’’ (10’’, 11.75’’, 13’’) [23 cm (25,5 cm, 30 cm, 33 cm)].

In the next WS row, you will shape the neck opening.

5) Knit 25 (30, 32, 37) stitches, bind off the central 9 (10, 12, 13) stitches, and knit the remaining 30 (30, 32, 37) stitches.

Continue knitting separately the left and right shoulder / sleeve, starting with the one to which your yarn is attached 🙂

6) Shoulder / sleeve 1: continue (I recommend you count the rows) in garter stitch until the TOTAL lenght of the piece is 10.25’’ (11.5’’, 13.5’’, 14.5’’) [26 cm (29 cm, 34 cm, 37 cm)].

Bind off with US 13 (9 mm) needle. Leave a long tail of yarn to use it later for sewing.

Join new yarn and knit the second shoulder / sleeve exactly as you did the first. If you counted your rows, you’ll find it easier. Bind off all stitches as in step 7.

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B) BACK

Follow the instructions for the FRONT until you finish casting on all the extra stithes for the sleeves (steps 1 to 5).

1) Continue working in garter stitch until the TOTAL lenght of the back piece is 10.25’’ (11.5’’, 13.5’’, 14’’) [26 cm (29 cm, 34 cm, 37 cm)].

2) Bind off 34 (40, 44, 50) stitches, knit the following 8 stitches, and bind off the last 17 (22, 24, 29) stitches.

3) Join new yarn and knit 6 rows in garter stitch over the remaining 8 stitches. This will be the tab through which you’ll pass the buttons through. Bind off stitches with a US 13 (9 mm) needle.

Your knitting work has ended!

At this point, your front and back pieces will look similar to
the ones in the photo.

I say “similar” because I only took photos of my work in progress for the green sweater, before deciding I prefer the button tab knitted in the back…

🙂

 

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C) FINISHING

– Join the front and back pieces by sewing the sweater sides and the bottom part of the sleeves, all in one go. That’s why you left a long tail of yarn when casting on your stitches.

 

 

 

 

TIP for sewing sides: use the knots left by the side k stitches to produce a neat seam.

 

 

 

 

 

Sewing with contrasting yarn to show you better the tecnique.

– Sew sleeves (top) / shoulders. Below you can see a step-by-step guide of how to make a tidy seam there. When sewing the right sleeve / shoulder, stop as you reach the button tab and secure your yarn tightly before losing it.

– Weave in all yarn ends. Be careful to secure especially the yarns around the neckline.

– Sew on 2 buttons in the right side of the front piece.

Enjoy your work!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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You can also purchase the pattern in a high quality PDF file HERE (50 % OFF from today until April 15th, discount already applied) or in my Etsy Shop HERE (use coupon code CHALTEN from today through April 15th to get a 50 % off).

 

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STITCH GLOSSARY

Garter Stitch (also called Stocking Stitch)

k all sts, every row

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COPYRIGHT INFO

© Cecilia Fameli, 2021.
You’re welcome to sell your items produced from Oh La Lana! patterns! But you may not re-sale or re-distribute commercially my patterns in any manner. Thank you in advance for being respectful with my work!

Thanks for stopping by, and HAPPY KNITTING!!
Cecilia @ohlalana.designs