Gingersnap
July 02, 2015
This
pattern was inspired by a little baby I met in San Francisco who was wearing a similar
sweater. A Ravelry search came up with
nothing except a years-old out-of-print publication, so I decided to recreate
it myself and offer the pattern to my readers for free. (Edited to add that in 2020 I sized the pattern to fit 1-8 years, links below.)
I made my sweaters from scraps of Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted left over from the Martin Storey Afghan KAL and the Kaffe Fassett KAL. In the model sweater above, I used
a fourth color for the back, but the pattern is written for three colors. This is meant to be a real scrappy sweater
and as long as you make gauge and use a soft, machine-washable yarn (it’s for
baby after all), you can be thrifty and raid your stash using 3, 4, 5 or more
colors. The color possibilities are endless and I can't wait to see what you come up with! If you would like a summer sweater, I suggest Rowan Handknit Cotton or
Rowan Softknit Cotton. Both will give
you gauge and both are machine washable.
I've sized Gingersnap for one year, which is my favorite size to knit for baby. Hear me out: At one year old, babies are sitting up, walking about, smiling and laughing, clapping their hands, and generally causing a lot of commotion and attention to themselves, and thereby, giving a lot of attention to your nice sweater! I'm also going to size this for an 18" doll because I love to knit for dolls and know a lot of my readers do too. Give me a few weeks for that, so stay tuned. Gingersnap is available as a free download on Ravelry. If you don't belong to Ravelry, it's free, so sign up right away! This pattern is suitable for a beginner.
August 5, edited to add: By changing the gauge by using DK weight yarn, you can make a 6 mos. size. Read about that here.
August 5, edited to add: By changing the gauge by using DK weight yarn, you can make a 6 mos. size. Read about that here.
Even a baby sweater deserves a bit of fine finishing attention. The direction of your increases and decreases make a difference in appearance, see
the neck decreases above. The pattern explains which way the decreases
should go so they will be neat and tidy. Professional looking seams, below, take a bit of practice, but they are easily achieved. This sweater is a perfect project to practice your finishing techniques. YouTube has some excellent video tutorials.
 |
| Close up of the sleeve seam. |
Get your free Gingersnap pattern here, size 1 year only
Gingersnap for Bigger Kids, size 1-8
The yarn is Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted
in colors, Granite, Gold, Soft Cream and Moonstone on the back.
The colors used in the sweaters below are Candy, Charcoal Gray and Soft Cream
and Gold, Bottle and Soft Cream.
29 Comments
i really love it! I will keep the pattern for next year ;)
ReplyDeleteI had YOU in mind!
DeleteSo cute! I just found out I'm going to be a great aunt, so perfect timing!
ReplyDeleteYou lucky thing!
DeleteHow beautiful and generous. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAdorable - I love the stripes and colour blocking!
ReplyDeleteSo cute. Must be fun to knit.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ute.
DeleteLove it K! Saved it to my library.
ReplyDeleteCindi, you must have some leftovers you can use!
DeleteThese are adorable! And I happen to have some Rowan Pure Wool Superwash in my stash that would be perfect for this. Thanks so much for the beautiful pattern!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I loved knitting with the PWW. It behaves so well!
DeleteWhat a gorgeous sweater and yes the color combinations would be endless wouldnt they. A great stash buster too!
ReplyDeleteOh, just darling! Thank you for sharing the pattern! :)
ReplyDeleteHow nice of you! I have a grandson due in 9 days!! This is just the cutest little sweater ; )
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! You lucky thing, you have someone fun to knit for!
DeleteGorgeous thank you, and I have the yarn in my stash, Perfect Barbara
ReplyDeleteSo darling! Thank you so much for the pattern.
ReplyDeletesuch a wonderful baby sweater pattern, and I love that it uses so many fun colours- the varieties are endless! Thanks os much for sharing the free pattern.
ReplyDeleteI love them so much, I want to make one right now. Trouble is, I don't know a soul with a baby right now -- argh. Definitely will go in my queue though.
ReplyDeletevery cute sweater. good for boy or girl, just change colors as needed.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen, I am currently knitting your little Gingersnap cardigan, love the way it looks. Mine is for a girl and will be knit in purple, pink & white. I am wondering if instead on casting off the back and fronts, if I in row 76, reduced the number of stitches to what I would pick up, and then placed the live stitches on stitch holders, could I just after they were all knit put them in the right order onto a needle and then knit the neckband. (I would do this to avoid having to pick up stitches.) TIA for your help.
ReplyDeletePat, so sorry, I just saw this now! Yes, you can do the neck that way. I feel it's more common practice to do the neckline the way you plan to do it, but I've just always preferred the look of picking up stitches. No matter what the pattern says, I bind off and then pick up. But if you find your way works best, I would do that. Thank you for asking and sorry to be so late in answering!
DeleteHi Kristen, I'm writing from Sydney, Australia. I've knitted two gingersnaps for my (then) one and two year old grandchildren. I'd like now to knit more in bigger sizes - for three year olds. Have you resized the pattern for older kids? Thanks Rosemary
ReplyDeleteI would like to make this in 18 to 24 months. Should I just use larger needles
ReplyDeleteThanks Eve Green
No Eve, I don't think that will work. Hold tight, I'm sizing the pattern up to include age 2, 3 and 4. Give me another month--I'm a slow poke re. pattern writing.
DeleteHave you created the size 2, 3 and 4 adaptations? I'd like them. Making the size 1 now, but it would be great on a friend's little boy who would need size 2 for the fall. Thanks, Karen
DeleteYes, I have a adapted the pattern for up to size 8. You can find it here:
Deletehttps://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gingersnap-for-bigger-kids
I made my sweater in a size 5t. I used a pattern from a different sweater but used the same coloring technique. I dont know how to post pics. Wish I did though.
ReplyDeleteYou make my day when you make a comment!