15 (Mostly) Vintage Knitting Patterns for Baby Gifts
Among my family and friends with children, many of those children are now graduating from high school, which has made me nostalgic for the time when it seemed like all I knit was baby gifts. The bulk of my baby knitting was actually done in the pre-Ravelry days, but unless the baby knit you’re gifting is pop culture specific, does a baby sweater or toy pattern really ever go out of style? Let’s take a look at some of my past favorites, in case you’re in need of baby gift inspiration!
My personal philosophy on baby knits (after years of trial and error) is threefold:
Knit 6 month size or larger so the baby can grow into it (with my cousins’ children I often wouldn’t see them for 9 -10 months after they were born so I’d pick the 1 year size). My one exception to this is baby booties, which I will generally not knit larger than 6 month size.
Think about what time of year it will be when the baby is the size of your sweater! I’ve knit several cotton yarn sweaters and sunhats because they were more likely to wear the pattern in spring or summer.
Pick less common colors for baby clothes – I liked to pick jewel tone reds, greens, yellows, and blues when I could. If I picked pastels it was because the pattern called for multiple colors so I could have a range of color tones. Yes my one finished object photo in the post is pink, but you’ll notice it’s two different shades, neither of which is baby pink!
I also don’t take sides in the fiber content debate. I’ve knit baby knits in 100% wool, in superwash wool, cotton, acrylic, and every blend in between. If you know the parents well it’s always nice to pick something at a care level/fiber content that aligns with their lifestyle, but I’ve knit gifts in machine washable yarn only to have the parent tell me they would absolutely always handwash it because they wanted to keep it in as good a shape as possible!
With that said, here are 15 of my favorite knitting patterns after roughly 25 years of knitting baby gifts.
Section 1: Knitty
As I’ve mentioned many times, Knitty’s free patterns have been a constant in my life since I discovered it only a couple of years after it launched. In my early 2000s, entry level salary and student loan days, being able to knit adorable baby patterns without having to buy a pattern on top of the yarn was much appreciated.
I don’t unfortunately have photos of any of my actual knits, but they are all great (and did I mention free?) patterns:
Anouk pinafore: Designed to grow with a child, so it won’t be a wear once and grow out of it item.
Daisy cardigan : This pattern is super versatile; I knit two of the hooded version with embroidered flowers for a friend who had twins!
Norberta toy dragon : This was actually a big brother present when a close friend had her second child; my friend told me big brother still has it, even though he’s almost 20! It was made in discontinued boucle yarn (Knit Picks Crayon), but with boucle making a comeback recently I bet you could find a replacement.
The leftmost book is still available as an e-book from Knit Picks; the other two are out of print but I found several copies at online used book sellers.
Section 2: The Books
I have two books that featured heavily into my baby knit rotation. The first was a Patons book called Leisure Arts Presents: Forever Favorites, which was one of the first real knitting pattern books I ever owned (and which I knit many projects from, for both adults and babies). Many of these patterns are listed on Ravelry, so I’ll be linking to those pages, but you can still find this book on used book websites if you look.
Baby Shoes: I knit sooo many pairs of these. They’re a great design because the strap helps keep the shoe on better than a slip on booty design.
Playing in the Sun Playsuit: This one was so huge in the butt - I suspect it was sized around bulkier diapers than what we have today. My cousins and I got a good laugh out of how funny it looked on, though.
Sleepsuit: This was for a close friend who was the first of our high school friend group to have a baby (born in December) and I got a little overambitious. Because I was going to see her at the holidays I knit the newborn size. It fit him for a week. That’s when I started knitting larger sizes.
The second book I knit heavily from is Knit Picks’ Classic Knits for Kids, which is still available as a downloadable e-book from Knit Picks (I have a print version). I will link to the Ravelry pages for these patterns as well.
Little Old Man Sweater: My cousins loved this on their little boy and it is cute, but this pattern does NOT match the photos on Knit Picks and the Ravelry page. It doesn’t have the cute patch pockets and there are eight buttons called for, not six. (I frequently use this as my anecdotal example of why a tech editor should check the photos of the finished object against the pattern!) Unless they’ve updated the pattern for the e-book proceed with caution!
Soft and Stripy Sweater: This pattern, on the other hand, was adorable. I called it the Piglet sweater because of the shades of yarn I chose, but it was really cute and fit well, too! See photo below.
Kitty Hat, Booties and Mitts: I made the hat and booties (which are really socks) just a few years ago for a friend’s new baby. These are also really cute, although embroidering the paws onto the socks was a little tedious.
I hope it’s obvious why I called it the Piglet sweater.
Section 3: Everything else
Shiny Robot: I knit three of these in my “must knit big brother/sister presents as well as baby presents” era (can you tell I’m an oldest child?). I used sparkly yarn for these and they were really cute. This is from Knitted Toys by Zoe Mellor, which has 25 really cute patterns (and is available from a lot of used book sellers) – I still think I will make more of them someday!
Baby Surprise Jacket: I of course knit the Elizabeth Zimmerman classic a few times! If you’ve never tried it, it’s a lot of fun, a super fast knit, and works with many different types of yarn.
Baby Pom Pom Hat: This Purl Soho pattern is super simple but with a fun variegated yarn and a contrast color pom pom it comes out super cute. This was my most recent baby knit (just this last January) so I do have a photo of it; I’ll feel *really* old when this baby graduates high school!
My most recent baby knit - for a member of the class of 2043.
If you have babies about to arrive in your life, I hope this list gives you some ideas! If you end up making any of these, please let me know. Or leave a link to your favorite baby gift patterns in the comments!
I’m Whitney, a tech editor, graphic designer, and lifelong crafter. Join me for an exploration of my latest knitting, crochet, sewing, and upcycling projects, tips on knitting technique, editing tips for knitting designers, and more!