Customising Baby Knitting Patterns

Why would you want to try customising baby knitting patterns?

I have a great pattern for a square neck aran jumper for 6 to 12 month old babies. I like the shape and basic style of the jumper but I really dislike knitting the same garment more than once so can you guess what I usually do?

I use the basic pattern and change the knitting stitch patterns to create my own unique jumper!

So - How Do I Go About Customising Baby Knitting Patterns?

The pattern I use is a Patons pattern that I have had in my pattern collection for at least twenty years. It consists of three main aran panels on a reverse stocking stitch background and it is quite beautiful when it is knitted.

As it is a pattern for an aran, I don't need to make any adjustments to the number of stitches to accomodate the narrower width of aran stitch patterns.

Really all I need to do is to sort through my books to find knitting stitch patterns that I would like to use for a new jumper.

I usually pick knitting stitch patterns that are quite narrow for a baby pattern.

Although you tend to use a finer ply for baby knitting, you still don't want your individual designs to over power the garment.

Then you have to work out the placement of your knitting stitch patterns across the garment pieces. To do this you can use graph paper or a spreadsheet program.

Mark out the total number of stitches for each piece in your garment. For mine there are 87 stitches for the front and back and 44 stitches for the sleeves - and then you just play with the patterns to find the best arrangement for your garment.

For arans, you generally have one reasonably wide pattern in the center with one or two smaller panels on either side. I usually try to have a combination of aran patterns that fits within the width of the garment after the armhole shaping (makes maintaining the pattern during and after shaping easier) so I mark my graph paper with the number of stitches after shaping as well.

For this particular pattern, there are 66 stitches after the armhole shaping is finished so I try to keep the total number of stitches in my panels less than 66.

Want to See an Example?

Below you will find a photo of results of my most recent efforts at customising baby knitting patterns - a baby's square neck aran jumper that I have just finished using this method.

The center panel is an open lattice pattern knitted over 22 stitches, and on each side of the center panel I added a 6 stitch cable with 2 stitches of reverse stocking stitch on either side and a 10 stitch moss stitch pattern. I also added a twisted stitch between each panel.

For the sleeves I placed the 6 stitch cable in the centre and added the moss stitch panel on either side.

By the way, this particular jumper is for sale in my Knitter's Market, or you can't see yourself coping with customising a jumper, you buy a copy of the pattern I created.

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