After the sweater that would never end really ended (pics soon) I felt a sense of freedom to cast on whatever I like. In the last few weeks I’ve been slammed by multiple irritating and lingering colds, so I needed some pick-me-up knits. I started some new socks for Matt (stockinette, pretty yarn, not much to say about them yet) and less than a week later, on Valentine’s Day to be precise, I decided to cast on a sweater for my niece.

I looked around on Ravelry for a pattern that would suit my needs. I wanted to use fingering weight yarn. The speckled color is Rain Dancing in The Yarn of Rhichard Devrieze on the Peppino base. The pink stripes are leftover Manos Alegria in Magenta from sweaters I made for my little ladies. I thought about throwing in some spring green stripes as well, but they didn’t contrast enough with the Rain Dancing color. I had even made a ribbed edge in a green color, but after about 4 inches of the alternating magenta and speckled stripes I put the row before the green ribbing on a spare needle and cut off the green ribbing and knit a magenta edge instead. Looking back, I should have taken a photograph or two to explain the process, but I’m sure many others have demonstrated this before, perhaps even in video form.

I didn’t find a pattern that really fit what I wanted. Instead, I knew I was looking for the approximate fit of the 12 month size of Little Oak, and I knew I could use those numbers to get what I wanted. I’m making this on the large size so perhaps the kiddo can wear it next fall as well, since it’s a bit late for this winter. Little Oak has a more circular yoke, but I’m thinking when I finish the second sleeve I will do raglan decreases instead. It seems like the simplest option.

These yarns look better than I expected together and I can’t wait to finish this wee cardigan and send it off. Baby knits are wonderful distractions.