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| Photo above © Amy Bahrt |
Skating Penguin Pullover by Amy Bahrt is a playful children's sweater featuring a colorful penguin motif with a clever surprise: the penguin also hides a practical pocket.
Designed for Cascade Yarns in sizes 2, 4 and 6, this long-sleeved pullover combines classic sweater construction with intarsia colorwork and fun details. Best of all, the original pattern is still available as a free knitting pattern.
✓ Free Pattern Availability
Good news: the original Skating Penguin Pullover by Amy Bahrt is still listed as a free knitting pattern. This guide identifies the original design and provides the key project details before directing knitters to the legitimate pattern source.
Penguin Pullover at a Glance
Official Pattern: Skating Penguin Pullover
Designer: Amy Bahrt
Publisher: Cascade Yarns
First Published: October 2014
Craft: Knitting
Category: Children's Pullover
Sizes: 2, 4 and 6 years
Skill Level: Intermediate
Yarn Weight: Worsted
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm and US 7 / 4.5 mm
Gauge: 20 stitches × 24 rows = 4 inches / 10 cm in stockinette stitch
Techniques: Intarsia, colorwork, shaping and seaming
Special Feature: Penguin motif with hidden patch pocket
Availability: Free pattern
About the Skating Penguin Pullover
The Skating Penguin Pullover is a children's sweater designed by Amy Bahrt for Cascade Yarns.
At first glance, the colorful penguin is simply the decorative focus of the sweater. Look more closely, however, and the design reveals one of its most charming features: the penguin incorporates a functional pocket.
That combination of playful design and practical detail makes this much more memorable than a basic children's pullover.
Three Children's Sizes
The pattern includes three sizes:
- 2 years
- 4 years
- 6 years
The published finished chest measurements are approximately:
- Size 2: 26 inches
- Size 4: 28 inches
- Size 6: 30 inches
Finished body lengths are approximately 14½, 15½ and 16½ inches, respectively.
When choosing a size, use the finished measurements in the original pattern rather than relying only on the child's age.
Original Yarn
The original version was designed using Cascade Yarns Sateen Worsted.
It uses several colors to create the sweater, stripes and penguin illustration, including a main blue shade together with white, black, orange and yellow tones.
Because this is an intarsia project, you do not necessarily need a full sweater quantity of every contrast color. Check the original pattern before purchasing yarn for the exact requirements of your chosen size.
Needles and Gauge
The published needle sizes are:
- US 5 / 3.75 mm
- US 7 / 4.5 mm
The published gauge is:
20 stitches × 24 rows = 4 inches / 10 cm in stockinette stitch
Always use the needle size that allows you to obtain the required gauge. Gauge is particularly important for a child's sweater because it affects both the fit and the placement of the colorwork design.
The Penguin Motif
The large penguin gives this sweater its personality.
Instead of repeating a small motif around the garment, the design uses a prominent picture motif as the focal point of the front.
Contrasting colors define the penguin and its details against the sweater background.
The original pattern includes the information needed to position and work the colorwork correctly.
A Penguin That Hides a Pocket
The most unusual feature of this sweater is the hidden patch pocket incorporated into the penguin design.
It is a clever detail because the pocket becomes part of the illustration instead of looking like an unrelated addition to the front of the sweater.
For a child, that makes the garment both fun to wear and useful for carrying a tiny toy or other small treasure.
Working the Intarsia
The penguin motif uses intarsia, a colorwork technique particularly suited to large blocks of color.
Rather than carrying every yarn across the entire row, separate sections of yarn are used for the different color areas.
When changing colors, the yarns need to be managed carefully at the boundary so that the sections remain connected without creating holes.
If intarsia is new to you, practicing a small two-color swatch before starting the sweater can make the main project much easier.
Worked Flat and Seamed
The Skating Penguin Pullover is constructed flat in pieces and then seamed.
This traditional construction is useful for an intarsia sweater because the picture motif can be worked back and forth across the front rather than requiring the colorwork to be managed in the round.
Careful seaming at the end helps give the finished pullover a neat, structured shape.
Skill Level
The original pattern is classified as Intermediate.
Useful skills include:
- Casting on and binding off
- Knitting and purling
- Working ribbing
- Following garment shaping
- Increasing and decreasing
- Reading a colorwork chart
- Working intarsia
- Managing several yarn colors
- Making and attaching a patch pocket
- Seaming sweater pieces
- Finishing and weaving in ends
Managing Several Colors
Intarsia projects can quickly become tangled if every color is worked directly from a full ball of yarn.
Small yarn bobbins or manageable lengths of contrast yarn can make the different sections easier to control.
Periodically untangling the yarn before it becomes a problem can also make the knitting much more enjoyable.
Check the Chart Placement
Before beginning the penguin section, identify the center of the sweater front and understand where the motif begins relative to your selected size.
With picture knitting, correcting a placement mistake after many rows of colorwork can be time-consuming.
A removable marker near the center of the work can provide a useful visual reference while following the chart.
Choosing Substitute Yarn
If you cannot find the original yarn, choose a substitute based primarily on gauge and fabric characteristics.
For picture knitting, a relatively smooth yarn with good stitch definition can help the edges of the penguin motif appear crisp.
Also consider washability and durability because this is a garment intended for children.
Color Ideas
You do not have to reproduce the original color palette exactly.
The penguin naturally benefits from strong contrast between black, white and the sweater background, but the main sweater color could be changed considerably.
Navy, turquoise, red, green, grey or a softer winter blue could all give the same design a different personality while preserving the recognizable penguin motif.
Is Penguin Pullover Still Free?
Yes. Skating Penguin Pullover by Amy Bahrt is still listed as a free knitting pattern.
Ravelry continues to identify the design as free, and a free downloadable version is also listed through established knitting-pattern retailers.
Amazing Knitting does not reproduce Amy Bahrt's copyrighted chart or complete row-by-row instructions. Instead, this page provides an independent project guide and directs knitters to the legitimate pattern listing.
Get the Free Penguin Pullover Pattern
Ravelry provides the pattern record and identifies the original free Cascade Yarns pattern.
Get the Free Penguin Pullover Pattern →
More Free Children's Sweaters
If you enjoy playful picture sweaters like the Penguin Pullover, continue exploring the Amazing Knitting archive for more free children's knitting patterns.
Explore Free Children's Sweater Patterns →
You can also browse animal sweaters, intarsia sweaters, and free pullover patterns.
Before You Start
Select the correct size and make a stockinette gauge swatch before beginning. Then review the penguin chart and identify where the intarsia section begins for your chosen size.
Organize the contrast yarns before reaching the colorwork section and read through the pocket construction in advance so you understand how this clever detail becomes part of the finished penguin.
Pattern credit: Skating Penguin Pullover was designed by Amy Bahrt for Cascade Yarns. The existing photograph on this Amazing Knitting page is credited to Amy Bahrt. Amazing Knitting does not reproduce the designer's copyrighted chart or complete row-by-row knitting instructions.