Baby Pullover in English Rib

I haven't been knitting a lot lately, but have managed to use up some stash yarn to make this easy baby pullover for charity. Give it a try and see if you don't also think it's one of the easiest things you've ever knit (if you use your ribber, that is.)

English Rib Baby Sweater mar heck 4-22-12 Yarn: Mary Lou's Solo, approx 1/3 cone (I got 3 baby sweaters out of one full cone with yarn to spare.) Size: 12 months (18 months in parenthesis) Machine: standard gauge with ribber Notes: I started with Diana Sullivan's charity sweater pattern that is similar but I couldn't get gauge with my chosen yarn, so it's modified with thanks to Diana for the original. The pattern consists of 4 rectangles. No shaping is required because 1 x 1 ribs are tighter than the English rib for cuffs necline and bottom. The sweater has a boat neck and ¾ sleeves. Don't fret when the piece first comes off the machine. It will look long and skinny, but pull it both directions and let it sit for a while. It will relax to the correct dimensions. Directions: Knit one front and one back the same. For the bottom rib, cast on per your manual over 67 (71) needles, 1 x 1 rib. Tension 0/0. Do one zig zag row, hang ribber cast on comb but don't hang wts yet. You'll have a nicer, less flutey edge. Set machine for circular and knit 3 rows. Change to regular 1 x 1 rib and hang 2 large ribber wts. Knit 8 rows 1 x 1 rib at T 5/5. Change to English rib. (for Brother put the left 2 levers up on the ribber carriage—check manual for other machines). T 5​/5 RC 000 Knit to RC 110 (122). RC 000. Change to 1 x 1 rib again and K 8 rows. Tension 10/8 , feed yarn loosely, and knit right to left. Transfer ribber stitches to the main bed. Latch tool loop through loop cast off. Makes a nice edge for the neck. Sleeves Cast on in the same manner as above over 61 (65) needles. And knit the cuff the same as the bottom rib for 8 rows. Change to English rib, T 5/5 RC 000, knit to RC 59 (71). Change to regular 1 x 1 rib setting, knit 1 R T 10/8 from left to right. Transfer rib stitches to main bed and bind off around the gate pegs as loosely as you can. This last row gets hidden in the armhole seam.

Finishing: Seam 2 inches of the front and back for each shoulder making sure the opening is large enough for a baby's head, seam sleeve to body using a back stitch, sew side and sleeve seams with a mattress stitch. Ahem. Make sure the textured stitches are the public ones for each piece. Optional-as you knit the top rib of one of the pieces, make a small button hole each side about an inch in from the shoulder by transferring a rib stitch to the main bed and leaving the needle in work. Then when you seam the sweater, overlap the front and back a little and sew the overlapped part into the armhole seam. Sew on small buttons. This allows for a looser neck opening and easier dressing for the baby. Also optional- knit a different colored yoke for the front and back or knit stripes suitable for a boy or girl. Expand the pattern for a larger size by adding stitches and rows in the same incremental amount for each additional size. Because this sweater knits up so quickly, it would be an excellent charity sweater for our MN Visiting Nurses to hand out. Suggest you put a little tag on saying machine wash and dry, ¾ sleeves (so they don't think it's an off size.) Closeup of sleeve seam and neck.

Sorry about the directions being one big blob. Blogger has changed and I've not got the hang of it yet. Will study up and if I figure it out I'll revise. Thanks for your patience. And an update of my gorgeous grandson who is now 7 months old!