Poppet Jumper in Rowan Cotton Wool (FR) - RB001-00009-FRP - Downloadable PDF

Poppet Jumper in Rowan Cotton Wool – Pattern Summary

About This Design

The Poppet Jumper is a charming baby knitting pattern designed by Erika Knight for Rowan, worked in Cotton Wool DK yarn. This delightful little sweater is sized for babies from 0–3 months through to 9–12 months, making it a versatile and practical make for newborns and growing infants alike. The finished chest measurement ranges from 50 cm to 56 cm, covering all four sizes. It is rated as an intermediate difficulty pattern, making it well suited to knitters who are comfortable with shaping techniques but looking to develop their skills further.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a classic baby jumper (sweater) featuring a raglan sleeve construction, a shaped neckline, and a practical button fastening. The pattern includes four buttons — grey, 1.5 cm, two-hole — which are incorporated into the design via neat yarn-over buttonholes worked directly into the knitting. The jumper is photographed in two colourways of Rowan Cotton Wool: Tiny 203 and Pickles 208, giving a sense of the soft, natural palette this yarn lends itself to.

Construction and Structure

The jumper is constructed in separate pieces — including a back and front — with raglan armhole shaping worked on both sections. The raglan decreases are carefully structured, with stitches bound off at the beginning of rows to begin the armhole, followed by regular decrease rows worked every two or four rows depending on the size. This creates the characteristic diagonal seam line of a raglan garment, which sits neatly on a baby's small shoulders and allows for a comfortable, flexible fit.

The front neckline is shaped separately on each side, with stitches placed on hold while each shoulder section is worked independently. This involves both neck-edge and armhole-edge decreases worked simultaneously, resulting in a neatly tapered neckline. Buttonholes are formed using the classic yarn-over and decrease method, creating small, tidy eyelets that sit flush with the garter stitch fabric.

Stitches and Techniques Used

• Garter stitch – the primary stitch pattern throughout, worked by knitting every row. This creates a dense, reversible fabric with a ridged texture that is both stretchy and soft, ideal for baby garments.
• Yarn-over increases (jeté) – used both decoratively for buttonholes and structurally during the lower body shaping to create a gentle flare or increase in stitch count.
• Raglan armhole shaping – a classic construction technique using paired decreases worked at set intervals to shape the armhole and sleeve cap simultaneously.
• K2tog (2 m end ens) – a right-leaning decrease used throughout for shaping at armholes, neckline, and buttonholes.
• Skpo / sl1, k1, psso (surjet simple) – a left-leaning decrease used in paired combination with k2tog to create symmetrical raglan shaping.
• Central double decrease (surjet double / sl1, k2tog, psso) – used at the neckline to remove two stitches at once, creating a sharp, centred point in the shaping.
• Buttonhole row – a specific right-side row combining yarn-overs and decreases to form two neat buttonholes in a single pass.
• Holding stitches and working sections separately – the front neckline is divided and each side finished independently, a key intermediate technique.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Rowan Cotton Wool in DK weight – 2 [2: 3: 3] x 50g balls, photographed in Tiny 203 and Pickles 208. Cotton Wool is a blended yarn combining the softness and breathability of cotton with the gentle elasticity of wool, making it particularly well suited to baby knitwear.