This is one of my absolute favorite baby patterns. I've made several of these designs over the years, and these pieces just Work. Irresistible in just about any style of yarn, great-looking on boys or girls, and gorgeous, subtle uses of texture while remaining very easy.

Fast, sporty, easy, in a very common thick gauge: this little jacket is unisex and absolutely always on trend. Normally we are (irrationally?) prejudiced against zippers, but it really works here.

Here we have a linen stitch jacket-- that's it. But to show off variegates, it's hard to imagine anything better. Clean styling, beautiful lines-- and if you've never done linen stitch, this is the place to start. You will astonish yourself. Cadenza is a standard weight DK, 22 sts and 28 rows to 4"/10cm, so if you can't get ahold of it, there are many, many other options.

Because babies need brioche for maximum cuddliness.

And here is something ingenious: you make two half-sweaters seamlessly, side-to-side, and combine them. Imagine the ease of only having to stuff one young arm into a garment (okay, twice, but still). Of course, you can make many different-coloured half-sweaters and come up with new combinations of them every day, depending on your mood or the tot's.

It's possible that you sew, too, and have run across some border or edging fabric or ribbon that you adore. Here is a wonderfully simple way to use it, with a classic worsted weight (10 ply) yarn. It's top down, with the sleeves worked in the round, so there's no garment seaming per se-- just sewing on the ribbon and the hook-and-eye closure (as many as you want).

The Min-O! There are lots of patterns to give this kind of hooded effect, but none we know of are as fascinating to work. If you are a frustrated architect, make this universally appealing piece and stand back in wonder at completion. You will start to see pattern possibilities in completely different ways.

This sweater-- so delicate and enchanting-- really depends on a fluid fibre, so find something silky or rayon-y or with lots of soft drape, and you'll land up with something quite miraculous. Seriously, people will exclaim at the freshness of it. The vertical st st columns are twisted. If you lack access to a garden or a park, this will make your baby seem always in their very own.

We absolutely love the French envelope shoulder (I don't know what it's really called, but that will do). It accommodates big heads so well and just looks so neat. Absolutely no sewing, either; you pick up for the sleeves through both thicknesses of the shoulder fabric and continue down in the round-- in effect, you've made your own seam. And who isn't longing to buy or knit with 3 skeins of Koigu KPPPM? That's all you'll need for any size.

We just love the drama here of the extraordinary hem, and the 3/4 sleeves-- so practical for the very young-- and the fascinating construction, and of course the overall look. It's very old-fashioned and very fashion-forward all at once. So cool. And why shouldn't those ages 6 months and up have access to all those virtues? Besides, once you've made a tiny one, you'll be all primed to make the grownup version for yourself.

In which Alana Dakos mines classic garment gold. If there were an all-time "Greatest Hits" of kids' patterns, this would be close to the top of the list. The refined look is almost Bohus, and yet all the colourwork is just judicious garter stitch (striping sequence provided). Easily convertible for boys by leaving out the picot edging and just adding a few more colourful garter rows. If you have sportweight oddments, this pattern is a moral imperative. Needs only sleeve seaming.

We have a lot of baby garter stitch basics, but this ingenious, pretty cardi obviously stands out from the crowd. The bodice and yoke are shaped with wrapped short rows, but-- as with the Egan overlap-shoulder design above-- you don't have to work the wraps; they themselves are enough to obviate holes. Really charming and surprisingly chic and self-assured for a baby.

To our minds you have to have a baby guernsey garment for the tot to be properly dressed. Here Silverman celebrates the visible tradition, but (untraditionally) has you make all the pieces flat. Detailed and lovely in a sock weight, with every proper guernsey element neatly in place.

Because tradition is important, and everyone should have access to the kind of Edwardiana celebrated by Downton Abbey. And who better to offer this up than the impeccably British Sirdar?

Because all babies need a sweater like this in which the knitter selects one colour for the yoke to match the child's eyes and make them 'pop'. And because it's never to early to introduce the young one to the traditions of other knitting cultures. And because it's just so all-fired good-looking.

Catnip for knitters, because really, who doesn't have some amazing sock yarn around in whatever smallish leftover quantities? Combine them to your taste. Burkhard has come up with the ultimate project whether you are scrapping or not: "This," she says, "is a one skein project." So you can give yourself permission to buy that knockout 100g special ball or skein, too.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that tiny girls should wear boleros, and also that they look adorable in them. It's hard to say anything else about this superb piece than the line in the description on its Detail page: "High fashion for short people". The bolero with short sleeves. Gorgeous rounded lower hem. For simplicity and refinement, it yields to nothing else.

This is the pattern equivalent of a 'pound puppy'-- it was rescued. It's critical to include it here because so many preemies are so very fragile now, needing special garments for very low birth weights. And this is the only pattern we know of to offer a fit for a 10" chest AND to have been developed in conjunction with neonatal experts. If you do charity knitting, check with your local medical centres to see which fibres they recommend, and knit from this pattern with perfect confidence.

Surely we don't have to explain the inclusion of this extraordinary pattern. This is ethnic knitting at its very finest, with traditional Norwegian elements present in 24 karat force. This is the gold standard of knitted baby gifts. Everyone covets these pieces, but not everyone has the courage to steek and hem. But if you were ever to learn, oh, use those skills here!

Because it's cute as anything, and fast to crochet, and top-down, and seam-free, and pretty much seasonless as a layering piece. The terminology is European but this never daunts the intrepid crocheter, especially when the photos included are as ample and detailed as the ones here.

Because you have to start them very young with this kind of sweater, just for continuity's sake, since (if you live in a climate with seasons) they're going to be wearing this type of design for the rest of their lives (we hope). This is the real deal, the authentic design from Canada's oldest woolen mill, the honoured Briggs & Little of New Brunswick. Really, an East Coast standard, chewy and nourishing.

Here's a trio of versatile little pieces that are wholly fresh in concept (silhouette, and the picot-edged ribbing) and execution (using the long-repeat variegate Baby Marble DK). We love the variety of the garments and the way everything matches in scale-- the emphatic buttonbands and button size together with the impact of the edge treatments.

It's rare to find a dog sweater pattern for larger dogs, but Sirdar has designed this one for dogs from 11 3/4" to 23 3/4" in width around the body. The coat is knit flat with leg openings, then seamed a short way from the chest down. Note the handsome collar. Sirdar, and Patternfish donate profits from this pattern to the Battersea Dogs' Home in England.

Toni Lansing's Reversible Dog Sweater is sized for the littlest to medium sized pooches, Chihuahuas to Border Collies, with complete instructions on customizing the size to your dog. Variations for girl and boy dogs are included. I laughed right out loud when I saw the instructions for this, but it makes sense!

"What a pair!" That's what other dog walkers will say when they see this dog sweater and sock combo. Be prepared, because we predict the next thing they'll say is, "Will you make a set for me and Hugo?" The socks take second place in these pattern instructions: "Socks are designed to use yarn remaining from dog sweater."

Trudy Van Stralen's Cabled Dog Sweater has an elegant look with ribbed turtleneck and leg bands. It's worked in the round with openings created for dog legs. This provides a tidy fit for your dog, like the fit Ms. Van Stralen has created for her human patterns. If you want a coordinating pattern for yourself, take a look at Shauna.