Monday, June 4, 2007

Le Petit Trianon (Free Baby Knitting Pattern)





Once I applied the bow to this newborn/3 months wrap, I found there was something very Versailles about it. So I decided to name it Le Petit Trianon . Le Petit Trianon is an easy pattern to knit. There are no seams, it is mostly stockinette stitch with an ounce of garter. I used a thick and thin chunky yarn by Di Ve called Fiamma, and used US 10.5 needles. The thick and thin gives it a relaxed rustic appearance, in contrast with the proper bow.

Best of all, the thick and thin bulky yarn makes it an express project. Even if the baby shower is tomorrow, you will be done!


Materials: 3 balls Di Ve Fiamma color 29047 (I had about 1 yard left!)

Needles: 24" US 10 1/2, US 10 1/2 dpts

Gauge: 3 1/4 stitches inch
Cast on 90 stitches loosely as the yarn is somewhat fragile. Knitting back and forth, knit 6 rows in garter stitch.
Switch to stockinette stitch for the rest of the body.
Knit even until piece is 3" high (from CO edge.)
Make 1 opening for the ribbon to go through as follows:
(RS)Knit until the last 30 stitches, BO 1, knit till end of row.
Knit the 2 sections separately knitting a total of three rows on each section, cutting and reattaching the yarn as necessary.
Rejoin the sections as follows:
Knit until the gap, CO 1, finish with the same yarn knitting the second section.
Purl 1 row.
Start decreases for edges of the wrap.
Decrease row: K1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1
Next row purl.
Repeat these two rows until there are 80 stitches left. On the last purl row, purl 26, place marker, purl 28, place marker, purl 26.
Looking at the markers, place the 3 stitches before, and the three stitches after the 1st marker on a holder together. Do the same for the stitches around the second marker. Put the body of the sweater aside, and start knitting the sleeves.
Make 2 sleeves:
With US 10 1/2 dpts, cast on 18 stitches, join round, and knit 4 rows in garter stitch. Switch to stockinette. Knit 1 round in stockinette. In next round, K1, Kf&b, knit to the last 2 stitches, Kf&b, k1.
knit 2 rounds, and repeat increase round 1 more time.
Continue even until the sleeve is 4" high. Place the last 3 worked stitches, and the next 3 stitches on a holder, cut the yarn.
Throughout the sweater you will continue the edge decreases as set above.
While keeping the edge decreases, attach the sleeve to the body as follows:
Knit on the body until you reach the stitches placed on hold, take the sleeve, and making sure the held stitches of the sleeve are in front of the held body stitches, place a marker, and start knitting the sleeve stitches with your working yarn, thus joining the sleeve to the body, at the end of the sleeve place a marker, and continue knitting to the second set of held stitches.
Make your second sleeve, and attach it in the same fashion, placing the markers in the same positions.
(You are still knitting in stockinette.) Purl 1 row.
It is now time to start shaping the raglan sleeves.
You will continue the edge decreases as set above while doing the raglan shaping as follows:
Row 1: K1, ssk, knit to 3 stitches of the first marker, ssk, k1, sm, knit to the next marker, sm, k1, k2tog, knit to 3 stitches of the next marker, ssk, k1, sm, knit to next marker, sm, k1, k2tog, knit to last 3 stitche, k2tog, k1.
Row 2: purl
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 8" from CO edge.
Now decrease every row for the edge stitches for 5 rows as follows:
Row 1: same as above
Row 2: P1, P2tog, purl till last 3 stitches, take second stitch on left needle, and pass it over 1st stitch, now purl that stitch, p1.
Next row, k2tog throughout row.
Purl 1 row.
BO.
Pick up and knit 30 stitches along neck edge, and knit 1 row. BO loosely.
Use the 3 needle BO for the underarm stitches on holders. Weave in all ends. Sew ribbon at each edge of wrap, right before the beginning of the decreases. Slip bpw through the whole, tie bow.

39 comments:

Tracy Batchelder said...

Thanks for another lovely pattern!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the post.

Caroline, the SockPixie

camillaknits said...

My oldest daughter (age 11) is begining the doll ensemble for her sister's Kit doll... I've no doubt all eight of our 'American Girls' will be sporting various color combinations and pattern 'morphs' by the end of summer. I lost my previous comment, so if it doesn't turn up, you've saved me with the chunky baby sweater. Three skeins of organic, color-grown cotton threw themselves at me whilst shopping in Milwaukee, WI a few weeks ago... the babe they'll be knit up for is a 'he', so I'll swap 'Fimo' buttons for the pretty bow and wa-hoo. It's outta the stash. Thanks so much. Camilla

Anonymous said...

Thanks Camilla. Always glad to help a fellow knitter reduce their stash! :)

Caroline, the SockPixie

Unknown said...

You have created the prettiest baby stuff and other patterns around. Your work is beautiful. I've made the Mother's Day slippers, 3 times now...lol and I am still getting calls from various non-crafty-knitting relatives for more pairs and just bought the yarn for the Petit Chou set, it will be lavendar and pale green. Thank you so much for sharing.
Georgia, aka Mrs. Brak

Anonymous said...

Dear Georgia,

Thank you so much for the comment. I just love creating baby garments. I think my new little cousin will be a lucky baby!

Happy knitting, Georgia!

Elysha said...

Thank you so much for the baby patterns...

I am haveing my 4th baby, my first girl. I have been looking for patterns but most seem to be for the lazy or confused knitter.

I love IT!!!!

Anonymous said...

Dear Elysha,

First, congratulations, and welcome to the ranks of the mothers of 4! I have 2 boys and 2 girls. It is wonderful you are having your first girl. You are going to have so much fun with the clothes, and the knitting!
Thank you for your post.

Caroline, the SockPixie

Carissa said...

I love wrap sweaters, and this one is very cute. I'm having my first winter baby (my 3rd) and I think I'll be making this GN since they fit so well! Thanks for the inspiration!

Anonymous said...

Dear Carissa,

Thank you for your comment, and congratulations on the new baby.
Happy Knitting and Mothering.

Caroline, the SockPixie

Anonymous said...

Hello,
this is a beautiful top! I wanted to make it for a friend's baby shower. How difficult is it increase the size to 6 mos?

Karen Ferrero said...

This sweater is absolutely beautiful! I love it. I'm a beginning knitter. Do you think I could handle it?

Thank you!
Karen

Anonymous said...

Dear Karen,

I think you can handle it. The yarn is big, and very forgiving!

Caroline

Anonymous said...

This sweater is beautiful! I'd like to knit one for my neice. Do you have any suggestions for sizing up to 6-9 month size?

Monica

Anonymous said...

Dear Monica,

If you are going to use a very similar yarn, I would recommend adding 20 stitches to your cast on. Add a little length by starting your decreases later. Make the sleeves a little longer.

I hope this helps,

Caroline, the SockPixie

Amy said...

Help! I am a new knitter and I am confused by these directions for this pattern :Knit the 2 sections separately knitting a total of three rows on each section, cutting and reattaching the yarn as necessary.
Rejoin the sections as follows:
Knit until the gap, CO 1, finish with the same yarn knitting the second section.
Purl 1 row.
Could you explain what the two sections are ?
LOVE THIS Sweater, But I am just Stuck. THANKS a MILLION!
Amy

Anonymous said...

Dear Amy,

What this means is basically you are creating a hole in your knitting, but this time on purpose! Knit the number of stitches before the hole, and turn your work working back to the beiginning until you have your three rows. Then go back to the rest of your work, and knit the three rows so that both sides of the hole match. Now it is time to join the sides again, so knit to the hole, cast on 1, and knit the rest.

I hope this helps.

Caroline, the SockPixie

Anonymous said...

This is lovely! My sister is about to have twin girls and I have been looking for something pretty!
This will be my first garment. I have made socks and scarves and hats before.
What can I use as a substitution yarn? We don't have any yarn stores here! (ACK!) Just what I can buy at Zellers or (ick) Walmart! So I am looking at the basics - Red Hart etc... would that be the right size? If so, same size needles?
Thanks so much!
Anna

Anonymous said...

What a lovely baby wrap!!! This would be perfect as my first knitted garment and for my new niece, Gabriella. :) I was just wondering if this is an itchy wool yarn and also if you know where I could purchase this particular yarn and color. Thanks a bunch. You're an inspiration. :)

x_masangel said...

Luv it!!But Im stuck at the ribbon hole part. didnt quite understand how to attatch and re attatch for three rows??is there a link you have were you show how to make it??

Anonymous said...

I have been working on this sweater and Im so stuck on how to attatch the sleevee. I finished one sleeve but cannot figure out how to attatch it to the body. Help!! x_masangel69@yahoo.com is my email. Thanks a bunch

Anonymous said...

I have been trying to knit this sweater and Im stuck at attatching the sleeves. Could you help me? x_masangel69@yahoo.com. Id really appreciate it :-)

Anonymous said...

I'm at the part where you decrease to 80 stitches and then place markers. I'm confused because 26, 20, and 26 do not add up to the 80 so I don't know where the other stitches go. What should I do?
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I am part way through Le Petit Trianon, past the ribbon hole section, but have come to a halt where you have 8o stitches on the body and placing the markers.
"on the last purl row, purl 26, place marker, purl 20, place marker, purl 26...." Then goes on to say which stitches to put on a holder. But 26+20+26 only adds up to 72 stitches - what do you do with the remaining stitches?
I am using a gorgeous sea bluegreen wool that is knitting up slightly bigger, which will be fine but I do want to finish it before the cold weather goes away! Hope you can help. I love looking at your colourways, they are just beautiful.

Anonymous said...

My neighbor made a similar wrap sweater that I brought my youngest home from the hospital in, 24 years ago. I searched and searched to find this pattern (thank you!) so I can make a similar sweater for same youngest daughter's first baby. However, I am confused about "until there are 80 stitches left. On last purl row, purl 26, place marker, purl 20, place marker, purl 26."
That adds up to 72 stitches, so what happened to the other 8?

Anonymous said...

I just posted a question regarding the -decrease to 80 stitches...purl26, purl 20, purl 26...and the missing 8 stitches. This is inreference to Le Petit Trianon pattern. Sorry for any confusion.

Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer said...

Hin there,

Purl 20 shouild be read as purl 28. Sorry for the mistake.

Caroline

Aimee said...

Dear Caroline,
I am trying out Le Petit Trianon sweater and have got stuck at the bit where I am to attach the sleeves to the body. Do I attach the held stitches on each sleeve or all the sleeve stitches. I can feel I am not doing something right as my double pointed needles are very much in the way as I am attempting to follow the instructions. Can you describe this part for the less experienced knitter like me? Also, I see an abbreviation I do not recognise- "sm"- I have tried to find a reference for sm, but no luck! Thus, I am writing to you for a little help! Merci bien!

Anonymous said...

This is a lovely pattern and thanks so much. I too am confused on attaching the sleeves. Could you please clarify and thank you in advance!
Melissa

Anonymous said...

The sweater is adorable but I too am having difficulty with the ribbon tie. Does the ribbon wrap around the back of the sweater?

Thanks

Anonymous said...

what doe bpw mean?

thanks!

Anonymous said...

In answer to the last post, the ribbon goes around the back you are correct.

Happy knitting,

Caroline

RobynS8971 said...

I figured out the sleeves, much by accident, the stitches on the holder are not knitted, they are joined together with the body stitches on their holder later to form the underarm seam. So put the 6 stitches on the sleeve holder, make sure the sleeve is turned right side out, knit them to the body using the yarn attached to t he body to now attach the sleeve. the holder stitches will tuck themselve under the sleeve, and now you are knitting across the sleeve as you incoroporate it into the body.
Later you will sew the 2 sets of stitches onj teh 2 holders together to make the underarm seam.

Now if I could just figure out what 'sm' means.

I am a VERY experienced knitter,(Fisherman's knits, many, many complicated patterns) and this is one of the most difficult patterns I have ever worked. Just possibly my first and last with thick and thin yarn, much too slow to work with.

Anonymous said...

I will dig my sweater out and see if I can figure this out. Thanks for your posting!

Unknown said...

About the sleeves...I had a moment of understanding and now the directions seem quite clear. But for those of us with little experience joining sleeves, maybe this phrasing will help: the 6 sleeve stitches and 6 body stitches on the holders stay "live" until the end of the project. When you knit across the body to the first marker and holder, let the 6 body and 6 sleeve stitches hang there while you knit across the other 12 sleeve stitches, then continue knitting across the body. Do the same for the second sleeve. Hope that helps.

Unknown said...

Oops! I should have said 16 stitches instead of 12 (after the sleeve increases)... :-)

Anonymous said...

Classic pattern, the color, the look marvelous! Nice work. I am trying to create such kind of baby wrap for my one month old baby, may I should have tried it quite before but due to some consequences I always had to postponed it, but after looking at such a good kind of knit pattern, I definitely got an encouragement to create such kind of marvelous baby wrap for my one month old baby. Thanks for the information that you had used to create such a good kind of baby wrap.

børnetøj said...

Baby are most beautiful gift given to human being.

Every parents want to see their baby happy and also

look beautiful. For that every parents purchase baby

clothes (børnetøj) best of their choice. Baby clothes

choosing is important because kind of clothes or

børnetøj affects the health of your baby too.

jm Internet Marketing said...

Hello! I too love this pattern. I would say that I am a pretty experienced knitter, but I have never joined sleeves like this before.

Is it possible to continue working the body after placing the markers (26 sts; 28 sts; 26 sts) and continue decreasing the left front, back, and right front until the neck?

If so, how many stitches would be remaining at the neck for each 3 sections?

I think I can figure out how to knit the sleeves separately and attach (I've done that enough w/ other raglans)! :)

Thank you for your help!