Lacy Shawl & Matinee Jacket in Snuggly 4 Ply in Sirdar Snuggly - 5484 - Downloadable PDF

Sirdar Snuggly 4 Ply Lacy Shawl & Matinee Jacket – Pattern 5484

This Sirdar design number 5484 is a free, downloadable PDF knitting pattern rated Advanced difficulty. It contains two distinct baby knitting projects: a lacy shawl (blanket) and a matinee jacket, both worked in Sirdar Snuggly 4 Ply yarn. The pattern is designed to fit babies from Premature through to 12 months, making it a wonderfully versatile set for gifting or building a complete newborn wardrobe.

About the Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly 4 Ply

Sirdar Snuggly 4 Ply is a fine-weight baby yarn produced by Sirdar, a British yarn company established in West Yorkshire in 1880. Snuggly 4 Ply has been rigorously tested to ensure it is gentle and kind to a baby's tender skin, remaining soft wash after wash. The pattern specifies shade 303 Cream (yarn code F074, 50g balls), a classic choice that gives the lacy stitch patterns an elegant, heirloom appearance. Other suggested shades include 497 Candyfloss, 441 Little Bow, and 320 Pastel Lemon, offering options from soft pastels to bolder nursery tones.

Design One: Lacy Shawl (Blanket)

What Is Being Made

The first design is a generously sized lacy knitted shawl, functioning as a baby blanket. The finished dimensions are approximately 89 cm x 110 cm (35" x 43¼"), making it large enough to wrap, swaddle, or use as a pram or crib blanket. This type of heirloom shawl is a timeless baby gift and a classic project in British hand-knitting tradition.

Techniques Used

• Lace knitting – the shawl features an all-over lace pattern, requiring the knitter to work yarn-over increases paired with decreases to form decorative eyelets and openwork motifs
• Flat knitting – the piece is worked back and forth on a single pair of needles
• Tension/gauge management – critical at this fine yarn weight to achieve the correct drape and finished size

Stitches Used

• Lace pattern stitches incorporating yarn-overs (yo) and decreases (such as k2tog and ssk or similar) to create the openwork design
• Likely garter stitch or moss stitch borders to stabilise the edges, as is traditional in this style of baby shawl

Materials

• Yarn: 7 balls of Sirdar Snuggly 4 Ply, 50g per ball, shade 303 Cream
• Needles: 3¼mm (UK10 / USA3) knitting needles

Design Two: Matinee Jacket

What Is Being Made

The second design is a lacy matinee jacket — a traditional long-line baby cardigan that extends past the waist to cover a baby's legs when lying down. The matinee jacket is an enduring staple of British baby knitting, prized for its practicality and delicate appearance. This version is sized from Premature up to 12 months, with the following chest measurements across sizes:

• Premature: 29 cm / 11½" chest, 23 cm / 9" full length
• Newborn: 36 cm / 14" chest, 25 cm / 9¾" full length
• 0–3 months: 42 cm / 16½" chest, 28 cm / 11" full length
• 3–6 months: