Wish and Hope is the name that I choose for my new baby/child cardigan. At the beginning of each new year I think more deliberately upon the wishes and hopes I have for the life in front of me and the year to come. The wishes and hopes are always the same; that everything growing (babies, children, leaves, flowers, animal and human….) will grow and thrive…

Design and construction
The Wish and Hope cardigan has a classic design; crew neck, set-in sleeves (with a tiny sleeve-cap for a good fit), buttoned.
The lower body is worked bottom up and flat to underarms where work is divided for fronts and back to be continued in separate pieces. Shoulders are worked together using the 3-needle bind-off method. Sleeves are worked top-down from picked-up sts around the armholes. Neck edging and button bands are worked from picked up sts. The cardigan is completely seamless.

Sizes:
6 – 9 months, finished chest 46cm/18” 1 year to 18 months, finished chest 55cm/21.5” 2 – 3 years, finished chest 62cm/24.5” 4 – 5 years, finished chest 70cm/27.5”

Materials
Yarn: I used Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light, a fingering weight yarn, to work the cardigan. This yarn comes in skeins of 384m/420yards. You will need 1/2/2/2 skeins of this specific yarn. Needles: you need 1 circular needle, 80cm/32” long, size 2.75mm/US2, and a set of dpns 2.75mm/US2. Please note that the needle size is a suggestion only, you need to choose size to obtain gauge. Notions: 2 removable stitch-markers (or more, if you want to place stitch-markers between each pattern-repeat of the hem), 7 (or more) buttons to match the buttonholes, tapestry needle, blocking tools.

Gauge
30 sts and 36-38 rows in stockinette sts = 10x10cm/4x4”.
The pattern.
All measurements are in cm’s as well as in inches. All necessary stitch-counts are given. There is a schematic. Please note that the lace-pattern is written out row-by-row (not charted).

Knitting skills. Working lace following written row-by-row instructions and/or chart. 3-needle bind-off. Picking up of sts. Simple short-rows.

The pattern has been revised.
Errata: Please note that the first free downloads had an error in the rib-pattern set-up (sizes 2 and 4). And the left and right upper fronts are interchanged….