If you hang around on Instagram, particularly during the holiday season, you hear a lot of discussion about whether people are “knit-worthy” or not. I never really paid that much attention because I was such a new knitter. There was truly no one who would want my misshapen yarn experiments, so the question of “knit-worthiness” was a bit of a moot point.
But, over the past year my knitting has improved somewhat. I would say it is solidly in the “not embarrassing” category. Now, I love my children very much. I would venture to say that I adore them. They are worthy of love, and happiness, and cake, and anything that I can think to give them.
But are they worthy of a hand-knit sweater? Really??? The jury is still out. I might make them a sweater that they can’t live without and they wear it into the ground. Or they might decide that they are a mermaid who doesn’t need knitwear, and they will never ever put it on. Le sigh.
Despite this, I have recently started to consider knitting a cardigan for my daughter, B, who is in kindergarten. She does wear cardigans sometimes. And if she hates it, there is always the possibility that her 4 year-old sister, F, will wear it instead. What finally put me over the top is the opportunity to try seaming a garment. I really want to learn how to knit a sweater in pieces, but I have been hesitant to go through all the trouble of knitting an adult-sized sweater only to mangle it in the finishing. However, how much time could it really take to knit a size 6 sweater? I think I’m going to go for it. In that vein, here is my roundup of kids cardigans. There were not nearly as many as I thought:
Basic Kid by Lori Versaci
The Basic Kid pattern is a seamed bottom-up cardigan (or pullover) that runs from size 2-14. It has a crew neck and a fantastic thin stripe of contrasting color along the bottom hem and cuffs. It has buttons and a modified drop sleeve. I love the look of this cardigan (bonus points that the sample was knit in pink, a perennial favorite at our house). Some of the comments on Ravelry say that the pattern is confusing and hard to follow, but I really do like how simple and clean this looks.
Dahlia Barn Solo by Lene Holme Samsøe
I know I said I wanted to try a seamed cardigan, but you guys! Look at this adorable top-down number. The Dahlia Barn Solo is charming with just the right amount of interest in the yolk so that you don’t get bored knitting it.
This sweater is a top-down, one-piece sweater (or dress?) is knit in the round. I am not sure how that works for the cardigan version. There is no mention of a steek, so maybe it is knit flat. There is a lovely eyelet pattern in the yolk. It comes in sizes 1-8.
Family Cardigans 8225 by Sirdar
Ok, don’t be put off by the cheesy photo, or the less than stylish buttons. This seamed, crew neck raglan sleeve cardigan is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. It doesn’t list the sizes, but it will fit a chest measurement of 27 1/2″ – 47 3/4″ which appears to be a child’s size six on up. I’m a little bit worried that it came out in 2019 and there are only 2 projects on Ravelry. Maybe people who knit kid sweaters aren’t into making project pages?
Prisma by Fabi
Prisma by Fabi is absolutely the sweater that my girls would beg for me to knit if I showed them this picture. It’s rainbow! The buttons are pink! There are tiny pockets! This adorable cardigan is bottom-up crewneck, seamed cardigan with raglan shaping. It runs from a size 2 to a size 8. I am a little bit worried that matching up the stripes might be a little bit much for my first seamed project, but otherwise this is adorable.
Do you knit for your kids (or other people’s kids?). Do you have any go-to cardigan patterns?
A Yarn Tail 