Knitting the Entrechat Baby Sweater (Shrug)

I knit the Entrechat shrug for our granddaughter, Evie, for Easter. If you're a beginning sweater knitter, a baby sweater is perfect to practice with, and this little shrug is so darling, with lots of fun features.

HiKoo Sueño Worsted was the yarn I chose for Entrechat. It knits up a little smaller than the Malabrigo Worsted that the pattern was written for. To accommodate that, I knit a larger size, the 2- to 3-year instead of the 12- to 18-month. The finished shrug measures 20.5", which is perfect for Evie!

Entrechat is knit seamlessly from the top down to the armpits. The raglan cap sleeves are then bound off and the back stitches are worked together with stitches picked up along each of the front raglans to form the body in one piece.

Materials

Pattern: Entrechat by Lisa Chemery
Yarn: HiKoo Sueño Worsted in color 1523 Strawberry Shortcake, 1 skein
Needles: 40-inch US 7 circular Chiaogoo Red Lace needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
Notions: Stitch markers, darning needle

I started with the Old Norwegian cast-on, which is a great cast-on to use when you want a flexible, slightly stretchy edge. It's a variation on the long-tail cast-on, and one of my favorites.

I slipped the last stitch of each row in order to create a finished looking edge. I’m not sure if that's the best idea when you have to pick up stitches on your edge, though. It worked for me because I needed to pick up 17 stitches and that’s how many I had, even though I slipped the last stitch of each row.

The button hole seemed rather close to the edge, so instead of knitting to the last 4 stitches, I knit to the last 5 stitches, then K2tog, YO, K3. This made the button area look more substantial.

I used the Icelandic bind-off in this project because I wanted a stretchy edge, and this bind-off works great with a garter-stitch edging.

A Note About Yarn Choice

Hikoo Sueño worsted is a bit more expensive than some of the yarn you could choose for this project, but I think it's worth it for a special baby gift. And you only need one skein! Sueño blocks beautifully and is nice and so soft—perfect for babies. This entire project was finished and blocked in under five hours, as close as you can get to an instant baby gift!

Sueño is a hand-washable yarn, but if you want a machine washable version of Entrechat, we suggest Malabrigo Rios. It knits up a little bigger than Sueño, so choose your size accordingly.

I hope you'll try the Entrechat pattern for the little girl in your life. The sizing goes up to 5-6 years, so you can make a new ones as your little angle grows!