So this is for my
 |
| This sweater used some old acrylic fuzzy yarn from the stash, about 2-3 ounces I think. It was well aged, the skein was in my closet forever. That's a little bracelet on the sleeve. This one got some primitive free-hand embroidery for fun. |
For a cardigan sweater, I usually cast on enough stitches for the back so I have a rectangle of about 5 to 5.5 inches when the stitches are kind of spread a bit on the needles. On my number 7 or 8US needles with worsted weight yarn (4), that's somewhere between 28 and 32 stitches, but it could be more or less depending upon yarn weight. I'm more concerned with getting the size than how many stitches. The waist measurement on most of these dolls is about 11 inches, so you want ABOUT half that width. Keep in mind that the ribbing will be slightly smaller than the body of the sweater, but it's stretchy. Once you're past the ribbing, it will measure about 6 inches wide.
I knit four rows of K1P1 ribbing. After that, I switch to stockinet or maybe garter stitch for the body. If I decide to do a pattern, I might throw in some purl stitches on the right side rows, maybe every third or fourth stitch. Sometimes I stagger them. Whatever, I'm making this up as I go along. If you have a pattern book you can pick any pattern that has an even number of stitches.
I just knit until the sweater is about 5 to 5.5 inches long. Then I put the center stitches on a stitch holder, pin, or scrap yarn, and knit the shoulders for four more rows. You'll have to join another ball of yarn to do the second shoulder, or you can do one, bind off, cut the yarn, reattach it on the other side and do the second shoulder. It takes less than a yard of yarn to do each shoulder so you can wind off a little bit and put it aside before you start, if you think of it. Or if you had an actual skein of yarn that you purchased, wind it into more than one ball or cake. If you're like me and you're using up your stash, maybe you have multiple little wads of yarn that you can access.
But I digress...
There are somewhere between 8 and 12 stitches in each shoulder. Bind off after the fourth row... or the fifth. I find that if you bind off on the wrong side, using KNIT and not purl stitches, the front edge lays flatter than if you use purl stitches or bind off from the front using knits. Leave about 4 inch tails on each shoulder and cut the yarn.
See what I mean? Not a pattern writer! You sort of divide the back into thirds and take that number of stitches for the neck edge. Divide what's left into right side and left side. The doll's neck measurement is about an inch and a half wide across the front, and you're going to finish that neck edge. So you need enough stitches on a holder to go across the doll's neck. Make it bigger rather than smaller than the actual doll. Nobody likes a tight neck opening!
The fronts are cast on with half the number of stitches used on the back PLUS 3. So if you used 32 stitches for the front, each FRONT piece is 16 + 3 or 19 stitches. Same drill, four rows of ribbing, BUT you always knit the three edge stitches where the fronts will overlap. You will mirror everything you do on the right with what you do on the left. So pick up the first ball of yarn, knit in pattern on say 16 stitches, knit three, drop that yarn and push the work to the right; go to the next piece, switch balls of yarn, knit three, knit in pattern on 16... then flip and repeat.
 |
| Knitting the fronts both at the same time keeps them even but the yarn gets tangled if you do stripes. |
Why buttonholes? Well, Velcro will work but the hook side will get stuck on everything and eventually you'll have a matted, pilly sweater. AND it's a pain to sew on! Trust me, buttonholes are better.
Knit until you reach the same length as the back up to the neck opening. You can count rows or just eyeball it. Seriously, it WILL NOT MATTER if you're off a row. If you had 10 stitches for the shoulders for the back, have ten on each side for the fronts, and put the rest of the stitches on holders. Knit for more rows, or the same number you did for the back. Bind off in the same manner. Leave a nice long tail to sew the pieces together (6 to 8 inches) and cut the yarn.
Button hole: Knit 2 at the center front edge of the RIGHT front, yarn over, knit the next two stitches together. Done. The button will poke up through the opening. I use 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch shank buttons. (For girl doll sweaters. For BOY doll sweaters put the buttonholes in the left front. Women are always RIGHT, men are LEFT over.)
Sew the shoulder seams together using your favorite method. I like the mattress stitch best. It's invisible and easy. Here's a tutorial http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-join-knitted-pieces-with-the-mattress-stitc.html but you can use the whip stitch or whatever you like.
The sweaters on the lower left of this photo are all knit the same way... some are plain stockinet stitch, some have a little pattern with an occasional pearl stitch thrown in for a simple pattern.
 |
| Simple pattern on front and back, plain sleeves. |
 |
| Our booth at the last craft fair. |
The sweater on the doll above has short sleeves. Yarn shortage. Sleeves are easy. After you sew the shoulder seams, you pick up stitches along the side, I usually pick up about 9-10 stitches between the midpoint of the back side seam and the shoulder, then pick up the same number from the shoulder to the midpoint of the front. You want the sleeve to be about -- well I usually eyeball it but I just measured one and it's 4 to 4 1/2 inches wide.
 |
| The shoulder seam is in the big orange stripe. Trust me... I love the mattress stitch! |
Then you knit for about three inches for a long sleeve and 1-1 1/4 inches for a short sleeve OR until you have gone through just less than half of the yarn you have left in that color. Knit four rows of ribbing, binding off the last row. You need about 18 inches of yarn for four rows of ribbing and a tail. About. If I'm running out of yarn I will do fewer rows of ribbing sometimes.
It's for a doll, people.
Sew up the side seams using the yarn tails you left.. Now you're ready for the neck edge.
I start with the sweater in my lap, ride side facing me. I put those RIGHT FRONT stitches on a 9 inch single point needle. Sometimes I size down the needle, sometimes not. Then in the gap between those stitches and the ones from the back, pick up anywhere from 4 to 8 stitches by poking the needle into the holes along the edge of the piece, trying to have the same number before the side seam as after.
You do this with the right side facing you because if you do it from the WRONG side, you get an ugly ridge on the outside of your sweater where you picked up those stitches. Ask me how I know this. Well, don't really, I'm sure you know!
Then knit the stitches from the yarn holder for the sweater back. Then pick up the same number on the left side gap as you did on the right, but don't make yourself crazy over it. If you have one more or less it's OK. But not more than one. Then knit the last group of stitches.
Turn the work and do K1P1 ribbing for 2-3 rows. Bind off. Weave in your loose ends. DONE!
Well, you still have to sew on the buttons. You can block if you usually do that, but I don't find it strictly necessary.
Bonus: This sweater can be buttoned in the front like a cardigan is meant to, or in the back. So there's no wrong way for your child to play with it.
Last year I went totally crazy and adapted a baby sweater hoodie to a doll. It was fun and insane, and I did four of them and sold them all! But you have to hand stitch a zipper in them which is kind of putsy. The nice thing is they go on the doll front, you flip the doll over and zip down the back. And most little girls can handle a zipper. But 18" doll heads are big relative to their bodies, like children, so the hood takes almost as much yarn as the rest of the sweater!
I should have written down what I did while I was doing it... oh, well, maybe another day. It's a raglan sleeve, knitted from the hood down all in one piece. The only seams are the ones in the sleeves, although you can knit them in the round if you're so inclined!
Oh, and while I had all that fake mohair fuzzy yarn, I knit a couple of surplice or wrap sweaters... some day I might write down what I did for that too.
 |
| I'm working on writing up the pattern for the wrap sweater too... this is my bin before the first sale. |
If you attempt to make a sweater following these instructions here's my disclaimer: everyone knits differently -- your gauge WILL vary depending upon how tight you knit, what yarn you use, what mood you're in, and your needle sizes. Even whether you use metal or bamboo needles! I used both worsted and DK weight yarn, but if you go by the measurements you should be able to adjust your number of stitches. You'll figure it out. Also, there are a gazillion free patterns on the web if you need one that's better than this! Try Ravelry.com or Google doll knitting patterns.
SO if you have success I'll be happy that you did, and if you don't, well, that's what you get for listening to me. I said I was no expert! Just kidding...
Knit on!
