The Pink Lady Baby Cardigan by Marta Porcel of Creativa Atelier is a charming baby sweater with an unusual sideways construction. Instead of beginning at the neckline or lower edge, the cardigan starts at one sleeve and is worked across the body before finishing with the second sleeve.
The design combines garter stitch with the reverse side of stockinette stitch, creating a soft textured contrast across the garment.
A complete step-by-step tutorial for the 3-month size is currently available free from Creativa Atelier. Additional baby and child sizes are available separately as paid PDF patterns.
Design, images and original pattern © Marta Porcel / Creativa Atelier.
Pink Lady Baby Cardigan Pattern Overview
- Designer: Marta Porcel
- Source: Creativa Atelier
- Pattern: Pink Lady Baby Cardigan
- Craft: Knitting
- Category: Baby cardigan
- Free size: 3 months
- Additional paid sizes: 6, 9, 12 and 18 months; 2, 4 and 6 years
- Construction: Sideways, from one sleeve to the other
- Main stitches: Garter stitch and reverse stockinette
- Yarn weight: DK / Light
- Suggested yarn: Katia Merino Classic
- Yarn amount for 3 months: 1 ball / 100 g / approximately 240 m
- Needles: 4 mm straight knitting needles
- Gauge: 20 stitches × 38 rows in garter stitch
- Closure: One button
- Main techniques: Knit, purl, k2tog, KFB, casting on, binding off and seaming
- Pattern availability: Free online tutorial for size 3 months
A Baby Cardigan Worked From Sleeve to Sleeve
The most distinctive feature of Pink Lady is its construction.
Instead of starting at the neck or hem, the project begins with one sleeve. Extra stitches are then added to form the front and back of the cardigan before the knitting continues sideways across the body.
After shaping the neckline and front opening, the body is completed and the second sleeve is worked at the opposite end.
This creates a garment with vertical rather than conventional horizontal construction.
Why the Sideways Construction Is Interesting
Sideways knitting changes the direction of the stitches across the finished cardigan.
It also allows the sleeves and body to form part of one continuous piece rather than requiring separate sleeve pieces to be knitted and attached later.
For knitters who have already made traditional bottom-up or top-down baby cardigans, Pink Lady offers a noticeably different construction method.
Garter Stitch and Reverse Stockinette
The cardigan combines two simple textures: garter stitch and reverse stockinette stitch.
Garter stitch creates a soft ridged fabric, while reverse stockinette uses the purl side of traditional stockinette as the visible surface.
This contrast gives the finished cardigan a distinctive appearance without requiring cables, lace or stranded colorwork.
Yarn for Pink Lady
The free 3-month tutorial uses:
1 ball of Katia Merino Classic, 100 g / approximately 240 m.
The yarn is classified as DK / Light weight.
A similar DK yarn can be substituted as long as you can achieve a comparable gauge and create a soft fabric suitable for a baby garment.
Choosing a Yarn Substitute
For a baby cardigan, consider yarn that is:
- Soft against the skin
- Comfortable and flexible
- Easy to wash
- Suitable for 4 mm needles
- Close to DK / Light weight
Always make a small gauge swatch when changing yarn, because differences in fiber and thickness can affect the final size.
Needles and Materials
- 4 mm straight knitting needles
- DK / Light yarn
- One wooden or decorative button
- Tapestry needle
- Scissors
The designer notes that you may need to adjust the needle size if necessary to obtain the intended tension.
Gauge
The designer lists:
20 stitches × 38 rows in garter stitch.
Gauge is important for a baby cardigan because the construction depends on specific widths and lengths as the knitting moves sideways across the garment.
If your stitches are significantly larger or smaller, the finished cardigan may not match the intended 3-month size.
Starting With the First Sleeve
The project begins at the cuff of the first sleeve.
The sleeve is knitted to the required length before additional stitches are added at both ends to create the front and back sections of the cardigan.
From this point, the work begins to resemble a sideways garment rather than a traditional sleeve.
Shaping the Body
Once the body stitches have been added, different stitch textures are used across the row.
The central sleeve and shoulder area uses garter stitch, while sections of the body use reverse stockinette.
This contrast helps define the structure of the cardigan visually.
Creating the Neck Opening
The neckline is shaped while working across the garment.
A section of stitches is bound off to create the opening, allowing the front and back portions to be worked separately for part of the construction.
This is one of the areas where it is especially useful to follow the designer's original step-by-step tutorial carefully.
The Front Opening and Buttonhole
The cardigan has a simple front opening secured with one button.
A buttonhole is incorporated into the smaller front section before the pieces are rejoined.
The single-button closure keeps the overall design clean and minimal.
Working the Second Sleeve
After the body is complete, stitches are bound off at both sides until only the sleeve stitches remain.
The second sleeve is then knitted to match the first.
This completes the main sideways piece of the cardigan.
Finishing the Cardigan
Once the knitting is complete, the sleeve and side seams are joined with a tapestry needle.
The button is then attached to the front.
The designer also discusses an optional lower hem to help control curling along the bottom edge.
Skills You'll Use
- Casting on
- Knit stitch
- Purl stitch
- Garter stitch
- Reverse stockinette
- Knit two together (k2tog)
- Knit front and back (KFB)
- Binding off
- Adding stitches at the edge
- Making a buttonhole
- Sideways garment construction
- Seaming
- Attaching a button
Is Pink Lady Beginner Friendly?
The individual stitches are relatively simple, so a confident beginner who already knows how to knit and purl can learn a lot from this project.
The unusual sideways construction requires more concentration than a basic rectangular project, especially around the neckline and front opening.
Fortunately, the designer provides a detailed photographic tutorial that shows how the garment develops step by step.
Free Size vs. Paid Sizes
The important availability detail is that the 3-month size is available free in the online tutorial.
Creativa Atelier also offers additional pattern sizes:
- 3 months
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 12 months
- 18 months
- 2 years
- 4 years
- 6 years
The expanded sizes and printable PDF editions are sold separately by the designer.
Is Pink Lady a Free Knitting Pattern?
Yes, the complete online tutorial for the 3-month Pink Lady Baby Cardigan is currently available free from Creativa Atelier.
Larger baby and child sizes are available as paid PDF patterns from the same designer.
Amazing Knitting therefore links directly to Creativa Atelier, the original designer source, rather than to third-party copies.
View the Free Pink Lady Baby Cardigan Tutorial →
Want Another Size?
Creativa Atelier also offers paid downloadable PDF patterns for additional baby and child sizes.
These PDFs include detailed sizing information and printable row-by-row instructions.
View All Pink Lady Size Options →
Why This Baby Cardigan Is Worth Knitting
Pink Lady stands out because it teaches a different way of thinking about garment construction.
Rather than building the cardigan vertically from neck to hem or hem to neck, the sweater grows sideways from one sleeve to the other.
The use of garter stitch and reverse stockinette also gives the design a distinctive handmade texture without adding technically difficult stitch patterns.
For knitters who already understand basic stitches and want to explore a more unusual baby sweater construction, Pink Lady is an interesting next project.
Pattern Availability
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Read Our Pattern Availability Policy →
Amazing Knitting is an independent pattern discovery and project-guide site. The Pink Lady Baby Cardigan design, images and complete knitting instructions remain the intellectual property of Marta Porcel / Creativa Atelier. This guide does not reproduce the designer's complete row-by-row pattern instructions.








