» photos: Sara Parker Photography » model: Jesse

Boys Can Wear Pink

By Kate Oates

Boys CAN wear pink, and look good doing it! I have ingrained this upon both my boys (and on my husband whenever he protested the purchase of a pink garment) and will continue to do so as they get older. I have long been a fan of the embellished tie t-shirt as well. It occurred to me that putting a tie on a pink sweater would be a great way to design a knit garment that leaves no doubts about for which gender it was intended. There are also so many fun things that could be incorporated into the tie—its a small blank slate any knitter can muster patience to work with!

Sizes

2T[4T, 6, 8, 10, 12]
Size Shown in Picture: 2

Finished Measurements

Chest: 22³⁄₄[25¹⁄₄, 26³⁄₄, 28¹⁄₄, 29³⁄₄, 32] inches
Length: 13³⁄₄[15, 16¹⁄₄, 17.5, 18³⁄₄, 20] inches

Materials

Blue Sky Alpacas™ Skinny Cotton [100% organic cotton; 150 yards/137 meters per 2.3 ounce/65 gram hank];

#305 Pink (MC); 3[4, 4, 4, 5, 6] skeins
#312 Pear (CC); 1 hank for all sizes

Recommended needle sizes

US #7/4.5 mm 24 inch circular needles
US #7/4.5 mm set of 5 dpns
US #5/3.75 mm set of 5 dpns or 16 inch circular needle

Notions

Yarn needle
Stitch markers

Gauge

21 sts and 28 rows = 4 inches in St st on larger needles

Pattern Notes

Sweater is worked in the round from the bottom up. Sleeves are also knit in the round and joined seamlessly during the knit. Garment is made to be fitted, if you prefer a looser fit, consider sizing up! Tie is worked back and forth as an embellishment and stitched onto sweater once knitting is complete.

Skills Required

Knitting on DPNs, picking up stitches, grafting (kitchener stitch)

INSTRUCTIONS

BODY

Using MC and larger circular needles, cast on 120[132, 140, 148, 156, 168] sts using the long tail cast on method. Place marker and join in a round, being careful not to twist stitches.

Rnds 1-6: Knit around.
Rnd 7 (Turning ridge): Purl around.
Rnds 8-13: Knit around.
Seaming Round: Fold the knit section in half along turning ridge so that purled row becomes bottom edge of piece. Join working sts to cast on edge as follows: * with left needle, pick up the first st from the cast on edge and knit tog with next working st; rep from * to end of round. Resume knitting in the round until piece measures 9¹⁄₂[10¹⁄₄, 11, 11³⁄₄, 12¹⁄₂, 13¹⁄₂] inches from bottom edge. Set aside.

Sleeves (Make 2)

Using MC and dpns, cast on 36[40, 44, 46, 48, 50] sts using the long tail cast on method. Place marker and join in a round, being careful not to twist stitches.
Rnds 1-6: Knit around.
Rnd 7 (turning ridge): Purl around.
Rnds 8-13: Knit around.
Seaming Round: Work same as Body.
Increase Round: K1, m1l, knit to last st, m1r, k1.
Repeat Increase Round every 4th round 2 more times: 42[46, 50, 52, 54,56] sts.
Knit in the round until sleeve measures 3[3¹⁄₄, 3¹⁄₂, 3³⁄₄, 4, 4¹⁄₂] inches from bottom edge.
Next Round: Knit to last 5[5, 6, 6, 6, 7] sts, slip 10[10, 12, 12, 12, 14] sts to scrap yarn (removing marker) and place remaining 32[36, 38, 40, 42, 42] sts on hold.

Join Sleeves to Body

Pick up circular needles and k18[21, 22, 23, 25, 27], slip next 10[10, 12, 12, 12, 14] sts to scrap yarn, pm, k 32[36, 38, 40, 42, 42] sts from first sleeve (keeping underarm sts facing each other), pm, knit 50[56, 58, 62, 66, 70] sts (back), slip next 10[10, 12, 12, 12, 14] sts to scrap yarn, pm, knit 32[36, 38, 40, 42, 42] sts from second sleeve, pm, k 32[35, 36, 39, 41, 43]: 164[184, 192, 204, 216, 224] sts.

Knit 2[2, 2, 4, 6, 6] rounds.

Decrease Round: *Knit to 2 sts before marker, k2tog, sm, ssk, repeat from * 3 times, k to end of round (do not decrease at end of round marker): 156 [176, 184, 196, 208, 216] sts.

Work Decrease Round every other round 7[9, 10, 11, 11, 12] more times, ending on a round knit evenly: 100[104, 104, 108, 120, 120] sts.

Next round: Work as for Decrease Round to last 14[14, 14, 16, 16, 16] sts, sl rem sts to scrap yarn and place on hold for collar: 78[82, 82, 84, 96, 96] sts.

NECKLINE

Note:For this section, the piece is worked back and forth in St st instead of in the round.

Turn work and purl one row.

Decrease Row (RS): K1, ssk, * knit to 2 sts before marker, k2tog, sm, ssk, repeat from * 3 times, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.

Work Decrease Row every other round 3[3, 3, 3, 4, 4] times more, ending on a WS row. 38[42, 42, 44, 46, 46] sts.

COLLAR

Switch to smaller needles and knit 38[42, 42, 44, 46, 46] sts. Pick up and knit 8[8, 8, 8, 10, 10] sts along left front collar. Place 14[14, 14, 16, 16, 16] sts for front collar on spare dpn and knit across. Pick up and knit 8[8, 8, 8, 10, 10] more sts along right front collar. Place marker and join to work in the round: 68[72, 72, 76, 82, 82] sts.
Work in a k1, p1 rib for 5 rounds. Bind off loosely in rib.

TIE

Using smaller needles and CC, cast on 9 sts. Work back and forth in St st as follows:
Row 1 and all WS rows: Purl across.
Row 2: Knit across.
Rows 4 & 6: K1, ssk, k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.

Increase Row: K1, ml, k to last st, ml, k1.

Repeat Increase Row every 6[8, 8, 10, 10, 12] rows, 9 more times. 25 sts.

On next RS row, begin decreasing every row:
Row 1: K1, ssk, k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
Row 2: P1, p2tog, p to last 3 sts, ssp, p1.

Repeat these two rows a total of 4 more times. 5 sts.
Ssk, k3tog, pass second st over first st. Cut yarn and weave through remaining st to secure.

FINISHING

Use kitchener stitch or the grafting technique of your choice to seam underarms. Use cast on tail from Tie to sew tie to front of shirt, using picture as a guide for placement. Weave in all loose ends.

Kate Oates is the designer for Tot Toppers; she enjoys designing hats in particular, and garments for babies and children. Her projects often reflect a whimsical spirit. She has recently started a new line for those of us who are not tots, called When I Grow Up. Kate also strives to add specifically to the growing body of knits for boys as she has two of her own! When she can pull herself away from her knitting, she is finishing up a PhD in Political Science from the University of Florida. Her blog is located at www.tottoppers.com and she keeps a constant eye on her ravelry group for pattern support.