Feb 22, 20192 min read

Gray and Sophisticated

Like I wrote in December, I became an auntie in last fall and get to knit all the things for the little dude. I'm probably in the minority here but beyond thrilled I don't have to knit girly, pinky, frilly stuff. For his Christmas present I knit a sophisticated little number that looks like an old-fashioned grandpa cardigan. And it turned out so cute!

Baby Sophisticate cardigan in Manos del Uruguay Gloria

The pattern I chose is a hugely popular free pattern on Raverly with over 10,000 projects: Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down. The pattern is a classic buttoned top-down raglan cardigan with a V-neck, garter-stitch bands, and a shawl collar. The free pattern comes in two sizes (0–3 and 6–12 months) but there's also a paid version with an extended size range.

Manos del Uruguay Gloria in the colorway Plata

The great thing about baby knits is that they use up so little yarn! For this project I was able to stash dive and used the leftovers from my Brontide cardigan: Manos del Uruguay Gloria in the colorway Plata ("Silver"). Gloria has a few qualities that make it ideal for baby knits. It's 100% merino so it's really soft and bouncy. It's superwash so it's easy to take care of. And a hand-dyed yarn brings that little bit of everyday luxury.

Many knitters on Ravelry commented in their project notes that the pattern runs a little on the small size. And with the pattern calling for aran and me using a worsted-weight yarn, I opted to make the larger size with a few modifications to make it even roomier.

The pattern has you cast on no stitches at the underarm — I added two at each underarm so the body was four stitches wider. I also picked up four stitches from the underarm for the sleeves so each sleeve was four stitches wider than specified in the pattern. I also lengthened the body a bit.

Knitted shawl collars have a tendency to pop up so I made it a bit wider so that it stays better in place. For the short-row shaping on the collar I used German short rows (my favorite!) instead of wrap & turns. The pattern calls for four buttons but I only had three. The buttons were pretty huge, though, so three was all that was needed. And odd numbers look better anyways.