At the very beginning of stay at home orders, my cousin Ari had her first child. The cutest baby boy named August. We live about 30 minutes away from each other but I hadn’t visited because of fears of COVID-19 and a newborn baby. Well, the other weekend I finally had a socially distanced visit with him so I could deliver a pile of hand knits. He is definitely one of the brightest spots of 2020 and when I first saw him on their front porch he gave me the gummiest grin.
A while ago I ordered some Lion Brand Wool-Ease hand dyed in the mint julep colorway when it went on sale. I didn’t know who it was for or what it would become but I liked the color and thought it would be great to make something for a baby with because you can throw it in the washer and dryer. And then I forgot about it amongst all the yarn slowly taking over my craft room. While searching for something else I pulled out this yarn and was inspired to make matching sweaters for August and his Mom. I had initially started a baby blanket for him at the beginning of the year but was uninspired by the color palette and get so bored knitting baby blankets. Matching sweaters are much more my speed.
I wanted a simple pattern to show off the yarn and I wanted it in baby and adult sizes, so I searched Ravelry and found the Southwood sweater pattern. It’s a simple top down raglan with ease built into it and my cousin loves an oversized sweater, so I made one for her and one for August. This pattern didn’t have short row shaping to raise the back neckline, so I decided to embroider a little heart at the back of the neck on both sweaters so they would know the front from the back.
It’s also just a sweet little detail to add to a hand knit gift. I also didn’t want her husband to be left out so I pulled the blue-green color out of the yarn and used a skein of Berroco Vintage in Gingham and made father and son Barley hats.
I like this hat pattern because of the garter stitch panel that breaks up all the stockinette and adds a little texture and interest. I thought this was a fun way to have the family match and my cousin even said she hadn’t thought about matching with August because he’s a boy and now she couldn’t wait to wear their matching sweaters. I can’t wait to get pics of them in their matching knits this fall.
Yards of Happiness 
Oh what lovely gifts! Best wishes to the new family.
I love your idea of embroidering a heart at the back of the neck. I have labels I had made to sew inside my sweaters, but sometimes they just don’t seem to sit properly. This is such a simple and sweet solution. Cheers!
That is a lovely idea, to create matching garments for a young family! I love the hat pattern an will take another look at it to see if it suits me. I do not really have a good hat head ..
Tineke from the Netherlands
So much love. 😀
That is such a wonderful idea to have both mom and dad have matching items. Much love to the new family!
I made a Barley hat for my grandson last winter. It’s a great fit AND a great knit. Nice choice for baby and dad.
What a sweet idea to include both parents in the knitted gifts – I love that idea and am tucking it away for the next time I have a special baby to knit for.
I love everything about this! The sweaters, the embroidered hearts, the hats, and especially that dear baby’s name!
You are so thoughtful! Best wishes to the new bundle 🤗
Little ones are such a bright light. I’m knitting a sweater/hat set for friend’s new little one and it gives me a lot of joy. I love the heart stitching – such great idea and a sweet detail!
What lovely gifts!!!❤️
These are just great. Best baby-and-family matching gifts ever.
What lovely gifts! You bring such Joy to the world with your knitting and your blog. Do you know that? I hope you do. Thank you for sharing.
Love this! My grandma used to appliqué little heart shaped patches to fix holes in my clothes.
This was the sweetness I needed to start today!
Love the matching mom/baby gift! The little heart is so sweet – lucky cousin family!
So beautiful! I love that Lion Brand Yarn! You are so very fearless with your knitting and I take inspiration every day!! Love everything about this family set. Thank you so much for sharing!
I love the story and the FOs, Dana. I didn’t even know that Wool-Ease had a hand-dyed category (It’s been so long since I’ve been “out in the world” to shop, I realize I have a lot of catching up to do.) So great to know that there’s a new and interesting option in the affordable, easy-care category of yarns. I’m also interested to see how the colors pool and ripple in the finished sweaters. I’m assuming you knitted them straight from the skein, without switching skeins every couple of rows? I happen to like the random patterns this creates, so am glad to see that, too. Happy Monday, Dana! And thanks again for sharing your work.
Holy Toledo! Such a great idea! I love my Barley hat.
Such beautiful gifts, which will surely be treasured! I love how the yarn pools, especially in the adult sweater. Looks like watercolors.
Feeling the love!
Love your sweaters! Oh what a little Ravelry journey your post has sent me on. I have always loved Wool-Ease (despite having a boatload of yarn-snob yarn). So had a fun time browsing the Hand-dyed options for kids and am writing down my favorites. Along the way discovered a great simple cardi pattern with lots of color creativity potential that has IMHO your name written all over it (you may have even knitted it!). It’s called Simple Hug Cardi. Slightly Slouchy. Three-quarter sleeves. Ribbing. Stylish. Up my alley. I am not in any way associated with this company. Just like to spread the news when something checks all my boxes. Thank you Dana for all your inspiration. (And, serendipitously, would not have discovered this pattern without your post today.)
Oh forgot about the Barley hat. Love that, too. So fun to knit. Turns out looks great in Hand dyed Wool-Ease which I would not have expected.
Just bought and took a look at the Hug pattern. It is a little “wordy” if you are planning on stripes which can be a bit daunting. But I will be knitting plain (variegated or solid) so it should be easy to skip over that part.
These are so cute! And I love the idea of making matching sweaters or hats instead of a baby blanket.
Those are so cute. New babies are the best!
Great projects!
What a beautiful pile of handknits. Love the hand embroidered hearts!
Beautiful work, and what a wonderful idea with the embroidered heart!
I love this! Beautiful gifts. Congratulations to all!
What sweet, thoughtful gifts! (And the embroidered heart is the perfect touch.) Like you, I love the Barley hat. I’ve knit so many of them, I have the pattern memorized. 🙂
(And I’m awfully glad you were finally able to meet the new baby.)