Nautty Sweater

Hopefully my sister isn’t reading my blog because my latest project is a Christmas sweater for her son, Nautas.  I’m using yarn hand-painted by my daughter in this top-down raglan.  To add some texture, I’m using sand stitch on the body and stockinette stitch on the sleeves.

I’ve got a slit for the neck where I’m planning on picking up stitches and placing a button band.  To figure out the initial cast on stitches, I’ve started with the chest measurement (plus ease) and reduced down with the number of required raglan decreases (determined by armhole depth).  Ditto with the sleeve stitches.  Between the initial sleeve stitches and the front and back stitches, I’ve got a neck circumference of 12 inches which should be plenty big enough.  But, I cannot seem to find baby neck sizes anywhere to double-check my sizing.  The craft council measurement charts don’t include this important measurement. 

I’ve ended up with the neck slit on the left side of the sweater without giving it any thought.  But, I’m noticing that most commercially-produced baby clothes have the slit on the other shoulder.  Hmmm…  I wonder if anyone will notice or if it even matters?

I’ve also knitted this worsted-weight yarn on size-5 needles to produce a denser fabric to keep my nephew warm.  The fabric still has a nice drape and I like the way it looks knitted a little tighter.  And, it looks like my 2 balls of yarn will be enough for this 12-18 month sized sweater.  Yay for that!