With family and friends living far away, I often have to time my knitting to coincide with someone’s trip abroad, weeks or months before the garment is needed. This little woollen wrap is intended for a baby due at Christmastime, but it was finished in a hurry so that her dad could take it back to Chile with him this week.

I love this pattern! The design is so simple and practical – no sleeves or neckholes that make dressing a wriggling baby difficult. Instead it is a no-seam, flat shape that wraps around and buttons at the back for instant warmth. It’s a doddle to make and provides a perfect canvass for interesting stitch patterns and yarns. I’ll definitely add this to my repertoire of quick baby knits.

Pattern: Cache Coeur for Baby by Patricia Arrotin, in The Wheel (Issue 19, 2007).

Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK (discontinued) colour 622 – a dark raspberry. I used approximately 80grams. I’m not sure how I feel about this yarn. It’s soft and warm, and ideally suited to a textured baby wrap. But it split and unravelled several times under the points of my needles, and the colour bled through several rinses when I washed it. I think it will provide warmth and colour – so the process was worth it.

Needles & notions: 3.25mm Inox circular. Two flower-shaped mother-of-pearl buttons.

Mods: Used slightly thicker yarn for a garment to fit a 3-month-old baby.

(Ravelry Link)