I have been hard at work on this new knitting pattern, which I am calling Baby Tulip Cardigan. It has taken a lot of thought, and knitting. Cardigans just seem the best sort of garment for a baby, with none of that squeezing over the head of a jumper. The tulips are smaller than those on my Tulip Hat, but knitted in a very similar way. Each flower uses two separate lengths of yarn - one for the leaves and one for the flower, which are not carried between the flowers on the reverse of the work. I love the look of the raised flowers, but put them only on the front of the cardigan, as I felt they might be a bit bumpy on the back for a lying or sitting baby.

The pattern comes with instructions for four sizes (0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months and 9-12 months). I have written sized patterns before, but this one was slightly more complicated, as the flowers had to be placed right on each version. (The pattern contains a lot of brackets, and I hope will be fairly straightforward to follow.)

The cardigan is knitted from waist upwards, with the front and back knitted in one piece until up to the arms. Gives a few less seams to sew up. At the raglan seams there is a knit stitch on the sleeve and garment edges, which I thought made it look a bit more distinctive.

The cardigan only takes 70g to 120g of main shade wool, depending on the size you knit, plus small amounts for the flowers, so it really is a good way to use up some yarn left over from another project.