I’ve only just started baby knitting, but I do want to progress beyond hats and footwear (more about those soon!) and knit sweaters and cardigans. The trouble is that I won’t know the sex of the baby for another month (and that’s assuming he/she plays along and poses legs akimbo for the scan!) and I don’t want to knit anything that’s definitely girly or boyish.
Then this cardigan popped up as a free pattern on Knitting Daily:
The Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater is knitted with alpaca (swoons!) and is so cute that I really want to knit one for The Bump. But is it too girly? Even if I knitted it in a fairly neutral colour? The photo has it knitted in cream and even that looks a bit feminine to me.
I wonder if I’m just bigoted when it comes to knitting baby clothes and should just knit what I like and not care if it looks like it should be on a baby of the opposite sex. People are unobservant anyway. DS2 was often mistaken for a girl when he was little because he had curly hair and long eyelashes, despite him being dressed top to toe in blue and green clothes with pictures of cars and tractors and other manly vehicles on them. If he was a curly haired girl, why would I not have dressed him her in something pink and frilly? Gah.
Anyway, all opinions welcomed. Even “you’re just being sexist”. 
no, i don’t think that’s too feminine… I was considering it too for my young gentleman. You could always add a couple more buttons for a slightly more blokey look if you are worried. But I think in general people should just knit what they like and not worry too much about gender appropriateness at such a young age. *adjusts son’s dress*
glad you have regained your knitting mojo. Funny isn’t it – the same thing happened to me during pregnancy, but I made up for lost time towards the end!
Glad to see you are back in the world of knitting again! Um – well yes I do think it’s quite girly – I think its because of that swing shape. You don’t see boys / men in a-lines. But you could butch it up with a stripey t shirt underneath? Sew on a tractor patch?! Or just decide your son is metrosexual and above such nonsense!
I was so not falling into the trap of gender stereotyping of kids clothes, but I did quite quickly (though I think if I’d had a girl I’d have dressed her in boys clothes, because EVERYTHING for girls is pink!). I do think you could get away with this one for a boy though, if you knit it in a fairly boyish colour and maybe made it a proper cardi with more buttons as suggested above.
I have now got a baby girl to knit for though (born to my friends yesterday
), so I’ll be doing girly stuff for a bit!
Nice to see you back…:o)
You’re just being sexist!
I don’t think that cardigan is too girly, even in cream. As rubbishknitter suggested you could add more buttons but I’d put it on a little boy anyway.
Glad to see hear your knitting mojo has returned! That’s a very cute cardi. I agree with Fi that it would look more ‘boyish’ (sorry!) with another button or two, or knit in a stronger colour. Either way, it’s going to look great.
Knit whatever pleases you! Have you seen this freebie? Really cute…
http://www.fearlessfibers.blogspot.com/
Lovely choice. You could knit it in cream, then dye it to match the gender of your baby when the little love arrives.
Personally, I think with the one button it is too girly, but I also think that adding more buttons will make it more boy-y..
I have to admit, I think the cream is a bit girly, but I can see it in a darker blue for a boy . . . It’s a really cute cardi though, I kind of want one for myself!!
It’s adorable! I think it might be the single button that makes it err toward the feminine, but with buttons all the way down it’d be quite nicely unisex.