Dirghagama a little baby cardigan I wanted to make a cardigan that would be the perfect baby shower gift to give to anyone expecting a little girl. Originally made for the baby of a lovely couple, who study the Dirgha Agama, this had to be the name of the pattern as well. The Dirgha Agama means 'a long (dirgha) discourse of Buddha (agama)' in Sanskrit and is a collection of 48 sutras, or rather records of the oral teachings of the Buddha from the 8th century. So now you know!
Sizes: 6 months
Finished measurements: before blocking: 45cm (18") circumference chest x 23cm (9") long and after blocking: 48cm (19") circumference chest x 23cm (9") long
Materials:
Yarn: Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky 1 ball, 100g (3.53 ounces), 110m (120 yards), This design uses the Blue Faced Leicester colourway. Needles: 6mm / US 10 circular needles (it is possible to use straight needles if you prefer) Notions: tapestry needle for weaving in ends, blocking wire/pins, 6 stitch markers (2 of one colour (A) + 4 of another colour (B)) and 100cm (40"), 1cm (1/2") wide ribbon. Gauge: The stockinette is 12 stitches per 10cm / 4" after blocking. It is very important to get the gauge right as this is a 1 ball project and uses exactly 1 ball of the recommended yarn.
Pattern notes:
Abbreviations:
co: cast-on bo: bind-off k: knit p: purl rs: right side of knitting ws: wrong side of knitting m1: make 1 stitch by picking up the yarn between 2 stitches with the left needle and knitting it through the back loop with the right needle yo: yarn over (see video) k2tog: knit 2 together (see video) p2tog: purl 2 together M: marker SM: slip marker PM: place marker repeat \*\*: repeat the instructions between the previous stars Instructions: The cardigan is knit back and forth starting at the neck, creating raglan-sleeves and joining for the body below the sleeves to create a seamless garment. The live stitches from the sleeves are then knit last. Cast on (co) 25 stitches and while doing so place the 2 A markers and 4 B markers (PM) as follows: C01, PM A, c01, PM B, C0 5, pPMm B, c0 11, PM B, c0 5, PM B, C01, PM A, 1c0 (25) Setup-row: (ws) purl till end Main body: 1. (rs) k1, m1, SM A, \*m1, k1, SM B, k1, m1, ktill 1 before M\* (repeat \*\* 2 more times), m1, k1, SM B, k1, m1, SM A, m1, k1 (35) 2. purl 3. k1 till 1 before M, m1, k1, SM A, \*knit till 1 before M, m1, k1, SM B, k1, m1\* (repeat \*\* 3 more times), k till M, SM A, k1, m1, knit till end (45) 4. purl 5 - 6. Repeat row 3 and 4 (55) STOP and read this! Drop the A markers and then continue with row 5 and 6 7. (rs) \*knit till 1 before M, m1, k1, SM B, k1, m1\* (repeat \*\* 3 more times) (63) 8. purl 9 - 16. Repeat row 5 and 6, 4 more times (95) STOP and read this! While knitting row 7, drop the stitch markers as you go. 17. (rs) \*knit till first marker, put 21 stitches (till next marker) onto stitch holder\* (repeat \*), knit till end (53) Ribbon band: 18. (ws) k53 19. (rs) \*k1, p1\* (repeat \*\* till 1 st before end), k1 20. p1, \*yo, p2tog\* (repeat \*\* till end) 21. \*k1, p1\* (repeat \*\* till 1 st before end), k1 22. knit 23. knit 24. purl Pattern 25. (rs) \*k2, yo, k2tog\* (repeat \*\* till 1 st before end) k1 26. purl 27. knit 28. purl 29. k4, \*yo, k2tog, k2\* (repeat \*\* till 1 st before end) k1 30. purl 31. knit 32. purl 33 - 40. Repeat rows 25 to 32 one more time (you can leave out this part if you are running out of yarn) Bottom edge: 41. (rs) knit 42. knit 43. \*k1, p1\* (repeat \*til 1 st before end) k1 44. knit Picot bind off: \*co 2 with cable cast-on, bo 4, slip stitch on right hand needle back to left hand needle\* (repeat \* till end) Neckedging: From the right side of the kniting, pick up 20 stitches along the right edge, 20 stitches along the top and 20 stitches along the left edge (58) (ws) Knit 1 row (rs) Bind-off with Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-of: \*yo from back to front, k1, pass yo over knit stitch, yo from back to front, k1, pass yo over knit stitch, then pass previous stitch over last stitch to bind off\* (repeat \* till end).
Sleeves
From the right side of the knitting, pick up 1 stitch from under the sleeve (use this to close the gap between the live sleeve stitches and the main body), move the 21 live stitches from the stitch holder onto your needle, pick up another stitch from under the sleeve again (23) Picot bind off: (ws) \* co 2 with cable cast-on, bo 4, slip stitch on right hand needle back to left hand needle\* (repeat \*\* till end) Repeat for second sleeve. Sew in yarn ends and block.
