Toddler owlet sweater

Am I the only one who always thought making for babies and toddlers was pointless? So much work for something which gets used for such a short amount of time! And then I found myself with one of those little things and...well, you know how it goes right? My perspective changed.

Owlet detail

For one thing, clothes for tiny humans are fun, much quicker to make than those for adults and customizable in a million extravagant ways. Secondly, and for me more importantly, they are a playing ground to test and perfect skills, without embarking in the time (and money!) investment that a project for an adult generally entails.

Take this little owlet sweater for example. It is my first knitted sweater made without following a pattern. Instead I used a generic top down method (I have also hardly made any sweater following a pattern) as I prefer the freedom of coming up with my own ideas and putting them into practice. A short internet search led me to the improv top down method by Fringe Association. I knew I wanted some cute animal decoration on it (I want to have fun when knitting!) and some more searching led me to this super cute cable owl pattern. Adding the owl section of the dishcloth pattern to just the inside of the sweater button band was simple, but the overall construction of the sweater takes some getting used to.

My supermodel enjoying some literature

I am pleased with the overall result, but I am glad this was a quick "test" make. The biggest issue is the way the back neck stands....I did too much shaping and it sits awkwardly high on the neck. Also the neckline came up weirdly squared, which I think is related to the overshaping of the back neckline. The front panels have also somehow come out a tad too narrow (but nothing a good blocking can't solve).

I get the feeling that it will take more than another toddler sweater to get the right balance of all the many elements of sweater making. My daughter will have more handknitted goodies before too long.

The question is, which cute animal shape to include next?






Project details:
Pattern: Improv by Karen Templer
Yarn: Baby cotton from Langyarns (about 150 g)
Needle size: 3.5 mm