Yes, I was supposed to be painting. But meanwhile I’d picked up some very appropriately coloured yarn and couldn’t resist the challenge. Three days later (had to undo and redo the yoke a good three times before I was happy with it), here it is:

Behold, the Baby Dude.

That’s as close as I could get to this:

…on such a small scale.

I’ve adapted a free pattern from Pickles, and decided to replace the zip with a frog closure, the instructions for which were courtesy of the amazing Jo of the Bridges On The Body.

I bet by the time the kiddo’s old enough to appreciate pop-culture, The Big Lebowski will be a distant memory, but I’ve had my fun. If I’m lucky, we’ll get a few looks of amused recognition in the short time the cardigan is supposed to be in use. Though I’m a little worried standard months 0-3 may be already too small for this newborn.

If you feel inspired, here’s the pdf instructions for the Baby Dude cardigan. Be warned I’m a self-taught knitter, hence the weird mark-up. If it gets too weird, do ask. If you like the general idea, but would prefer to adapt the pattern yourself, I’ve also saved the original xls file.

I’ve used 2 1/4mm needles (and a pair of circular ones as a holder), and Vanna’s Choice Lion Brand medium (4) yarn in linen (about 150g), taupe (25g) and black (50g). Linen especially was a great match, as it looks already slightly dirty (and it’s only the flash making it look this bright and clean in the photo). I went with acrylic because it was cheap and cheerful, and I had no idea how successful this endeavour was going to be. (Very, if I say so myself. ;)

Anyway, who needs pure wool to play a little practical joke on their defenseless child?