Ruffle Baby Cardigan is knitted bottom-up. First you work on the body in rows, then you bind off underarm stitches and continue to knit the front and back separately.

Body is sewed together at the shoulders with a mattress stitch. Sleeves are then casted on and worked in rows from the cuff. The construction features set-in sleeves, giving the cardigan a more tailored look.

The body is worked with a positive ease of 1-1 ½ in/2.5-4 cm to achieve a classic fit. The relatively simple design is elevated with the ruffles on the shoulders, adding some extra sweetness to the baby cardigan.

In the words of my test knitters:

• “I enjoyed the pattern very much! It is a good balance of rhythmic and mindless knitting and interesting and fun details.”
• “I enjoyed the pattern. I didn’t seem to have any problems with it … and it did fit my granddaughter.”

FINISHED CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE
17 ½ (18, 19, 20 ½, 21 ½) in/44.5 (45.5, 48.5, 52, 55) cm

YARN
DK weight - 250 yds/229 m per 100g/3.5oz skein
Yarn used: Harrisville Designs Daylights, American Cormo & Wool, woolen spun
1 (1, 2, 2, 2) skeins or 250 (250, 500, 500, 500) yds/ 229 (229, 458, 458, 458) m of color Chirp

NOTIONS
4 buttons (½ in/1.3 cm diameter)
Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Stitch markers (optional; to mark your increases, decreases, and pattern repeats)

DIFFICULTY
Beginner to intermediate - No short rows, just basic shaping with increases and decreases. Simple stockinette stitch on the body. Knitting in the round and back and forth in rows. Sewing pieces together is easy once you get the hang of it.

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This pattern was thoroughly tested by multiple knitters and professionally tech edited.