Hi everyone! I am new to knitting and this community… but here is my immediate question (which may be totally out of my league, but I thought I’d ask).
How do I make a pattern smaller? I’ve found a baby sweater pattern in an OLD Reader’s Digest book and really want to make it, but for 3-6 month size instead. It starts with the bottom edge and a caston of 124 (6-9 months). Other patterns I’ve found for the smaller size range start with a caston of about 96. The pattern stitch isn’t dependent on a certain multiple of stitches, so I don’t think that really matters. Suggestions? I think I’m in over my head, but I haven’t found a nice pattern for the smaller size that I really like!
Thanks ahead!
Susanne
It might help if we could see a picture of the sweater to see how difficult it would be to just leave out a few stitches. If you could take a digital picture of it and show us, that might help.
A question…what size yarn is it using? If the cast on is 124 stitches and that is just the back, it must be pretty small, but if it is the whole body (fronts and back) then the yarn could be bigger and maybe you could go to a smaller yarn weight and swatch it out and see what you’d get per inch and then using math figure out how big it would be at the new gauge. Then you could just make the sleeves and body a little shorter and be in business…maybe. 
Probably.
Also if you could show a picture, maybe someone knows of something similar in a small size.
Babies grow really fast too, and unless the baby is a preemie some of them outgrow a 3-6 month size before you can say Jack Robinson. I know some people won’t even bother to knit those small sizes. I will say though, that I am not one of them. Last Oct. we had a new preemie DGD and I made her things down to 14" chest. She outgrew them quickly, but they were fun to make, didn’t take much yarn, and looked so cute on.
I never bought the newborn size for my kids, they fit into the 3mo size right away - and 3-6 mo a couple months later. I think you’d do okay making the pattern size, they grow very fast, and if it’s a little big, you can roll up the cuffs.
Thanks for the quick answers!! I am sorry that its taken me a while to get back on. I’d forgotten all about the fact that babies grow so darned fast… I’m always in denial about that!
The cast-on I mentioned is for the back only… and the pattern calls for acrylic baby yarn with 3.25 mm needles. I think it makes such a big bottom edge because of the decreases that give it a little gathered effect. Here is the picture they show from my circa 1970’s book.
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A pattern normally gives a gauge. Use the gauge to figure how big around and how long you want it to be. Calculate the number of stitches/rows involved to make it that size. Calculate that as a percentage of the original and then just apply that percentage to the rest of the stitch/row counts listed.
Make sense?
Probably.