My first knitting pattern!

I recently passed my second anniversary of the day I started knitting.  Or, to be accurate, the day I re-started knitting, having learned the absolute basics in primary school.



Anyway, over this past two years I've knitted quite a few sweaters both for myself and for my kids.  In fact my first ever knitting project was a top down sweater for myself.  Remember that?

Although she never wears anything I knit for her, my four year old frequently nags me to make clothes for her dolls.  And frankly I'm not sure why I don't, since dolls' clothes are projects which are quick to make, AND they don't have to be perfect.

This kind of making suits my style down to the ground!

Anyway, since she nags me about this so much, I often go hunting for a quick and easy dolls' sweater pattern but come up with nothing.  I've long been frustrated with the dearth (great word, right!!) of anything easy.  They all require seaming or finishing of some sort which I just cannot be bothered with when the recipient isn't even, you know, a living person.

I've made some fantastically simple sweaters for me and the kids, and after a while it dawned on me that surely it wouldn't be that hard to make one up for the dolls.  Right?!  How hard could it be?  I was definitely comfortable with the techniques involved in making a sweater, so all I had to do was dial the measurements right down.  And keep it as SIMPLE as possible.

Then J was given a toy dinosaur promptly named Dinosaur T-Rex (I know, super creative) which she insisted needed a sweater to keep him/her warm.  Well, dinosaurs are cold blooded.  They probably do need sweaters in our climate.  I also probably do need a real job because I thought, "Sure. Why not?"

I fiddled around and jotted some notes, ripped back many a time (and we all know how I despise ripping back), and came up with something.

Then, just to be sure, I knit another one with sleeves for A's dinosaur Queetie (don't ask me), and now... here we are.

I humbly present my first ever (free!) knitting pattern.  I've sensibly named it the Quick 11" Doll Sweater, but since the first recipient was Dinosaur T-Rex, I think of it as the Cold Blooded Sweater myself.

Enjoy, and if you knit it please let me know what you think!

You can find the Ravelry pattern page here.

Click here to download PDF now!

Quick 11” Doll Sweater (aka Cold Blooded Sweater)                        

A seamless pullover sweater in a small doll’s size

(to suit a doll of approx. 30cm/11” height).

Worked from top down, including a rolled neck, raglan shaping for yoke/sleeves, and seamless construction in the round, with either a ribbed or rolled hem. It can be worked on DPNs or using magic loop. The pattern offers variations for cap or long sleeves.

Needles, Yarn, Notions, and Gauge:                                       

·     3.75mm circular (at least 60cm/32”) for magic loop, or DPNs (or size needed to achieve gauge)

·     approx. 50g or 80m/87yd of DK/8ply

·     1x stitch marker in one colour (BOR marker), 3x stitch markers in diff colour

·     Waste yarn to hold sleeve stitches (for long sleeve version)

·     Tapestry needle

Gauge: 22 st x 30 rows = 10cm/4” in stockinette in the round

Abbreviations:                                                                                                      

CO – cast on	pm – place marker
st – stitch/es	kfb – knit front and back
BOR – beginning of round	sm – slip marker
k – knit	BO – bind off

Directions:                                                                                                            

Neckhole

Using long-tail cast on (or your preferred stretchy cast on), CO 50 st.

Rnd 1: Join in round, place BOR marker, k10, pm, k15, pm, k10, pm, k15.

Rnds 2-6: K.

Yoke

Rnd 7: *k to 1 st before marker, kfb, sm, kfb*, repeat between ** to end of round.

Rnd 8: K.

Repeat Rnds 7 & 8 five times more. St counts between markers should be: 22/27/22/27 for a total of 98 st.

Separate Sleeves

Rnd 19: remove BOR marker, move 22 sleeve st to waste yarn (or bind off for cap sleeves), CO 4 using backwards loop cast on, place BOR marker, CO 3, k27, move 22 sleeve st to waste yarn (or bind off for cap sleeves), CO 7, knit to BOR marker. You should have 68 st left on your needles.

Body

Work in the round to desired length less 1cm/½in.

Work four rounds of k1p1 rib, or five rounds more of stockinette for rolled hem.

BO using a stretchy bind off (I like Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off)

Sleeves

Move 22 sleeve st back onto needles, and pick up the 7 st under the arm, placing BOR marker between third and fourth picked up st, for a total of 29 st.

Work in the round to desired length less 1cm/½in. For tapered sleeve, work every eighth row as follows: k2tog, k to 2st before marker, k2tog.

Work four rounds of k1p1 rib, or five rounds more of stockinette for rolled cuff.

BO using a stretchy bind off (I like Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off)

Finishing

Weave in ends, using yarn ends where you joined sleeves to close holes in underarm if needed. Wet block.

Click here to download PDF now!