Cupid

Cupid Cardigan by Melissa Schaschwary

What Is Being Made

Cupid is a knitted cardigan designed for babies, available in three sizes: 6-9 months, 12 months, and 18 months. This intermediate-level knitting project features a distinctive heart pattern as a central design element, making it an elegant and charming garment for infants. The cardigan includes a rolled collar detail and button closures for easy dressing.

Knitting Techniques Used

This pattern employs several fundamental and intermediate knitting techniques. The cardigan begins with a long tail cast on method, which creates a sturdy, professional edge suitable for a garment that will receive regular wear. The design incorporates raglan shaping, a classic construction method that creates diagonal increases from the neckline down to the armholes, resulting in a well-fitted garment with comfortable sleeve cap placement.

The rolled collar is created by working stockinette stitch rows that naturally curl when left unblocked, a technique that requires no additional finishing. The pattern uses stitch markers extensively to track pattern repeats and shaping increases, which is essential for maintaining accuracy across the multiple size options. Knitters will also employ increases (specifically the kfb or knit front and back method) to shape the garment during raglan construction.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The primary stitch used throughout Cupid is stockinette stitch, the foundational knit fabric that creates a smooth, flat surface ideal for displaying the heart pattern detail. Stockinette stitch alternates knit rows on the right side with purl rows on the wrong side, creating the characteristic V-shaped texture.

A heart pattern serves as the decorative focal point of the cardigan. This pattern requires careful stitch tracking and the use of two separate, distinguishable stitch markers (referred to as CM in the pattern) to mark the stitches involved in the heart motif, allowing knitters to keep their place within this more complex design element.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

Cupid is designed to be worked in Madelintosh DK weight yarn, a premium fingering-weight yarn that provides excellent stitch definition for displaying both the stockinette background and the heart pattern. Yardage requirements vary by size: the 6-9 month size requires 320 yards, the 12 month size needs 360 yards, and the 18 month size calls for 460 yards.

The pattern specifies US size 6 circular needles measuring 24 inches in length for working the body of the cardigan in the round, which minimizes seaming and creates a seamless construction. Four US size 6 double-pointed needles (dpns) are required for working the sleeves in the round. The gauge is established at 20 stitches and 28 rows over 4 inches in stockinette stitch, which is essential for achieving the correct finished measurements.

Additional materials include buttons for the front closure, four stitch markers in one consistent color for general pattern work, a tapestry needle for weaving in yarn ends, and needle and thread for sewing buttons securely to the finished cardigan.

Pattern Structure and Construction

The pattern begins with a cast on of 60, 66, or 70 stitches depending on the desired size. The first seven rows are worked in stockinette stitch starting with a wrong-side row, creating the rolled collar through the natural curling properties of this stitch. Raglan shaping then begins with strategic marker placement and increases worked adjacent to these markers, gradually expanding the body and sleeve sections as the knitter works upward.