Description
A sweater with eyelets and ribbon. Beatrix is quite a girly sweater as photographed but there’s no reason you couldn’t make a quite manly Beatrix for a baby boy if you used a neutral colour and perhaps some grosgrain ribbon in blues and greys. The Beatrix this was named after scandalised her mother throughout her life by not behaving as a Victorian lady ‘should’ and would, we think, approve of such a sweater for a boy. Surely Peter Rabbit might have worn one instead of his little blue jacket with brass buttons had his mother been able to knit?
Beatrix is knitted both flat and in the round – knitting tiny sleeves in the round is more than Belinda can bear – so the sleeves are knitted flat and seamed whilst the body is knitted in the round, then the sleeves joined in and the yoke and neck finished off in the round. Easy enough to convert the sleeves to knitting either on dpns or circs if that’s your thing (just cast on 2 less sts than the pattern dictates). The eyelets spiral around the yoke and beg to have pretty (or more manly) ribbon threaded through. We’ve knitted it here in one of the Fawn shades with ribbons in dusky pink, soft bluey-grey and a golden fawn, but an Ivory sweater with gold and cream ribbon would be lovely as a christening sweater or a Pewter version would look great with more on-trend fluorescent ribbons, or as we’ve already said, with boyish blues and greys.
The sizes are generous but not over-sized, giving room for growth without a ridiculous amount of ease. If you want something closer-fitting then just pick your chest size and alter the length to suit.
Tension: 21 sts and 27 rows in stocking stitch on 4mm needles.
Sized to fit: 3(6, 12, 18, 24) months.
Finished sizes: 49.5(53, 57, 59, 61)cm, 19¾(20¾, 21½, 23½, 24½)”.
Yarn: Town End Alpacas 100% Alpaca DK . 2(3, 3, 3, 3) x 50g balls. Shown in Mid Fawn
5(5, 5, 6.5, 6.5)m in total* velvet ribbon, approximately 0.5cm width. Ours came from V V Rouleaux. * if you’re using different colours you need from 1.25m(49″) to around 1.6m(64″) per colour, depending on size knitted.
3.25mm and 4mm circular needles, approximately 40cm long OR the size required to give you the correct tension. Your preferred needle / latch hook for darning ends in.
