All sewn up: Sirdar hooded baby jacket

I’ve got several projects on the needles at the moment, so it’s been nice to finish this one off

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I have finished the Sirdar baby jacket I’ve been knitting for the past few months, and I think it’s looking good.

The finished article. I really like the way this has turned out.

I really like the way the yarn has knitted up. The speckle effect works really well and the yarn is super soft (read my full yarn review), so ideal for baby clothes. This is the first time I’ve used this yarn and I’m pretty impressed, although it did get rather splitty when reknitting after having undone a few rows.

I really enjoy learning new techniques, and this pattern involved two novel things for me: making a hood and raglan sleeves. The former was great. Hoods are so easy! This is good because I want to make a Little Red Riding Hood cabled cape with a hood. So now I should be able to work out how to make one in the right size.

Overall I really like the finished piece, but I’m concerned about the size – I just hope the recipient gets some wear out of it

It’s really just a case of casting on sufficient stitches for it to go all the way round your head, knitting until it’s the right height, casting off a third of the stitches, working a third and then casting off the remaining third. You re-attach the yarn to the remaining stitches, and continue working on them until the piece is deep enough to cover your head. This forms the top of the hood.

Hood detail. Photos by Idoru Knits.

The raglan sleeves, on the other hand, were a bit more tricky. This was down to different tensions, and is explained in more detail here. But after a few attempts I got it right and they look OK. I’m also pretty impressed with my seaming. It’s so neat.

Overall I really like the finished piece. But I’m concerned about the size. I made the 6-12 months version and it matches the measurements given. In fact if anything it’s a few milimetres over. But it seems really small. I know babies are small, but they do grow quite a bit in their first year and I just don’t know if this will fit. But there’s not much I can do about that now. I just hope the recipient gets some wear out of it. And that both mother and baby like it.