Free Children’s Cardigan Knitting Patterns for Straight Needles

Super Striped Chenille Cardigan (1-5 years)

This super cute colourful cardigan pattern cleverly includes the button holes when knitting the front piece.

This gets rid of the big stumbling block with cardigan patterns for beginner knitters – adding the pesky button band at the end!

Plus you knit the front and back as 1 piece so there’s no side seams to do – yay!

The way it works is you start at the bottom and knit one wide piece which starts and ends at the front cardigan edges.

Once you reach the armholes, you need to divide the stitches up to work on 3 bits separately. First you knit just the right front stitches up to the neck and cast them off. Then you repeat this for the back stitches and the left front.

Each sleeve piece has minimal shaping at the top making them easy to attach to the cardigan body. Finally you just need to pick up stitches around the top edges to add a simple rib neckband at the top.

The cardigan works up fast in Paintbox chunky chenille yarn with 6mm needles. Kids will love the feel of it & it’s easycare too. Here’s a list of close substitute yarns from Yarnsub.

If you don’t like Chenille, you could use chunky wool or acrylic instead. But unlike finer yarns, chunky yarns don’t have a standard gauge. So look for chunky yarns with a gauge close to 10 stitches and 19 rows with 6mm needles.

You’ll need a free LoveCrafts account to download this free pattern, which also includes a matching sweater. Oddly the sweater body is knit in the round from the bottom up, but you could knit the front and back separately with straight needles by increasing the starting stitch counts by 2 if you like.

Glenwood V Neck Cardigan (2-12 years)

This cute cardigan pattern knits up fast on 5.5mm needles. The edging is all simple garter stitch, which is quicker than 1×1 ribbing and you don’t have to change needle size either.

The set in sleeves have minimal shaping at the top, so it’s easy to assemble and get a neat finish.

Adding the button band at the end is the tricky bit if you’re new to knitting cardigans.

In this pattern, you pick up stitches all around and knit the full v-neck border in one piece. So you’ll need a circular needle to fit all the stitches. But you still knit back and forth, just like with straight needles. Watch my video tutorial – circulars look scary but are very similar to straights!

If you only have straight needles, you could knit the cardigan bands in 2 pieces instead – left and right sides and seam them together at the back of the neck. But I’d highly recommend just using a circular needle for this bit instead.

This pattern uses an easy one row buttonhole method. You just knit 2 stitches together and do a yarn over – easy peasy!

While the exact Feels Like Butta Bonus Bundle yarn used in the pattern is discontinued, Feels Like Butta is the same yarn just in smaller balls. I’ve used this worsted acrylic yarn & found it on the heavy side with an unusual velvety feel. It does machine wash and dry well though.

The ball band gauge is 18×26 on 4.5mm needles rather than the typical 5 mm, and this pattern uses a larger needle size again at 5.5mm. So if substituting, I’d use a proper aran weight yarn or else a heavier worsted with a gauge of approx 18 stitches to 4 inches on 5mm needles. Here’s a list of alternative yarns on YarnSub.

You’ll need a free Lion Brand account to download the pattern, but that gives you instant access to loads of free patterns, without any annoying emails, so it’s a no brainer.

Comfort Color Block Cardigan (3 months-12 years)

With a whopping 10 sizes to choose, you can knit matching cardigans for every sibling – adorable!

You’ll need a free Ravelry account to download this pattern. If you’re not a member you’re missing out – it’s the world’s biggest pattern database & so much more.

Designed by Gail Rhodes as a fun take on a basic cardigan, get creative choosing colour combinations or let the child pick their faves. You can also see real pics of over 40 cardigans knit by others on Ravelry for inspiration.

The simple drop shoulders mean there is minimal shaping and make it easier to seam together at the end.

After knitting and seaming the main pieces together, you pick up stitches across the neck and knit the rib neckband. Then you knit each side of the button band, picking up stitches down the front of the cardigan.

The trickiest bit is making the button holes on one side, which involves slipping stitches and bringing the yarn forward & back. But it’s clearly explained, including exactly where to put each button hole so there’s no guesswork needed.

The pattern uses Berroco Comfort, a popular acrylic worsted yarn in over 60 shades that you can machine wash and dry. Many baby aran yarns should be close substitutes according to YarnSub, including UK brands like Patons, King Cole & James C Brett.

Caron V Neck Cardigan (4-10 years)

I love the contrasting cuffs & v-neck on this cute kid’s cardigan, but you could of course just knit it all in 1 colour instead. Or Caron also have a similar plain v-neck cardigan pattern for ages 2-10 here.

The bottom ribbing is 2×2 rib, which I find a bit quicker than 1×1 and easier to get a neat finish too.

Caron’s free PDF patterns are colour coded for each size to make it easy to follow. While most of this pattern is beginner friendly and Caron class it as easy, the v neck border and button band is a bit complicated.

You knit a separate long skinny piece of 1×1 rib for this (just 9 stitches), which beginner knitters may find easier than picking up stitches around the cardigan edges.

You knit the right side first, marking spots for where you will attach buttons, and sewing it to the side of your cardigan so you know how it fits. You continue knitting your skinny strip around the back of the neck, stitching it in place as you go.

Finally you knit down the left side & the key thing is to remember to make all the button holes at the spots you marked on the other side! It’s easy peasy to make each button hole though, you just cast off 2 stitches mid 1 row and cast on 2 again in the next.

This cardigan knits up quickly in Caron Simply Soft, an affordable easycare acrylic yarn. But you can use any aran yarn that knits to standard gauge (18×24), and many worsted yarns would also work.

Child’s Striped Cardi (2-8 years)

Easy garter stitch stripes makes this cute cardigan stand out.

You’ll need a free Lion Brand account to download this pattern. Don’t be put off by the complicated looking stitch explanation before the start!

You simply knit 8 rows in a colour to make a garter stitch stripe (pink and brown in the picture), separated by 4 rows of stockinette in the background cream colour (knitting the right side rows and purling the odd).

You could also knit this cardigan in just 1 colour to keep it simple. The garter stripes would still be very effective.

The easy drop shoulders construction mean minimal shaping and makes attaching the sleeves simple..

You add the neck, left and right bands separately, so it’s 3 short bits to knit instead of 1 never-ending button band!

The pattern tells you exactly where to make the buttonholes and they’re easy to do: just knit 2 stitches together and yarn over.

The pattern uses Vanna’s Choice, an affordable acrylic worsted yarn you can machine wash and dry. The ball band gauge is 16×22 on 5.5mm needles. So I’d say you could substitute with any aran or worsted yarns that knits to the standard 18×24 gauge with 5mm needles.

Damask Cardigan (3-14 years)

Brand new for 2025, this beautiful free cardigan pattern is a surprisingly easy knit.

Designed by Amanda Morse, it comes in a whopping 12 sizes, so you could knit a matching cardigan for every child.

I’d never heard of Damask stitch but it makes a really pretty texture that looks like complex cables but is just basic knits and purls – yay!

Plus the simple drop shoulders mean there’s no shaping at the top for the sleeves. So all in all, this fancy looking cardigan is a relaxing, easy knit – win win!

The pattern uses the popular US yarn Cascade 220 Superwash, a light worsted wool which you can machine wash and tumble dry. It’s available online in the UK from LoveCrafts & Wool Warehouse which is handy because light worsted isn’t common in Europe.

But you could substitute with either a heavy DK or lighter Aran wool. The key things you want are a wool with approx 100m per 50g ball and ideally a gauge of either 22 stitches with 4mm needles or 20 stitches with 4.5. For aran yarns, they may only give a 5mm gauge of 18, but that’s OK if there’s still around 100m per ball.

TIP: if you scroll right to the bottom of the pattern on Amanda’s blog, you will see a PDF version. Click the grey Download button under this to get a free easy print PDF version.

Busy Bee Cardigan (6 months – 6 years)

Knit this sweet cardigan for your little honey bee. You’ll just need a free LoveCrafts account to download it.

The cute little bees are actually embroidered with DK yarn at the end. So you don’t need to know how to knit any motifs – yay!

This also means you could leave out the bees if you like and make a classic cardi in any colour you want.

It has a pretty diamond stitch pattern all over it, which looks much more complicated than it is. It’s called diamond slip stitch aka quilted lattice stitch and the key is knitting a stitch under the loose strand.

You make loose strands by simply slipping stitches with your yarn in front, and then you knit a stitch catching them in a later row to make the diamond shapes – very clever! In all my years of knitting I’d never come across this technique, but here’s a great 1 minute video tutorial plus step by step instructions from PurlSoho. I can’t wait to try it out.

The pattern says you need a 3.5mm circular needle, but that’s only for the button band so that you can fit all the stitches on it to knit it in 1 piece. All the cardigan is knit back and forth in rows. You could even use a straight needle for the button band by knitting the left and right half separately and seaming them together, but I wouldn’t recommend that.

This is the perfect opportunity to try out a circular needle if you’ve never used one. I’ve a step by step tutorial for using a circular instead of straight needles here. It’s actually very similar to knitting with straight needles & the flexible curved cord makes knitting button bands a breeze.

This free pattern is designed for LoveCrafts own Paintbox Yarns Baby DK yarn, a soft easycare acrylic & nylon mix. But since that knits to a fairly standard DK gauge, still 22 stitches but with 30 rows instead of 28, you could use most DK yarns, especially baby DK ones which tend to be slightly lighter weight.

Striped V Neck Cardigan (3 – 7 years)

Kids will look cool in this preppy cardigan pattern from Sirdar (no. 2452). I’d love one in my size!

Knit in simple stockinette, the bold thin and thick stripes keep the pattern interesting. Photos of the finished cardigan in 4 different colour combinations are included – super handy to see before you go yarn shopping.

Even the rib is striped which is unusual but so effective, especially on the v neck border. That’s knit in 2 halves and seamed at the back of the neck, so that the stitches will fit on a standard straight needle. But you could use a longer circular needle to knit it seamlessly in 1 piece if you prefer.

Sirdar’s patterns are triple checked for accuracy and sizes are colour coded for easy reading. You’ll need to give Sirdar your email address to download their free patterns, but you can unsubscribe from their mailing list at any time.

This cardigan pattern uses Sirdar Snuggly Replay DK, a soft cotton and acrylic mix designed especially for kids that comes in 30 shades. But it knits to standard DK gauge (22×28), so you could also use any DK yarn you like.

Briar Girl’s Lace Cardigan (1-11 years)

This girl’s cardigan looks so special with the pretty lace pattern and fancy edging.

The pretty edging makes a nice change from standard ribbing, and it only takes 6 rows to knit. 1 row involves yarn overs, but other than that it’s straightforward, and it’s a nice warm up for knitting the main lace later on.

The lace pattern down the front is a 16 row pattern repeat, so you need peace and quiet to concentrate for that part – at least until you have done a few repeats. Because each front piece is only half the width, it knits up quicker than you may think.

The good news is the the back and sleeves are simple stockinette – so most of this cardigan is a relaxing knit you can do watching TV.

This free pattern is designed for Yarnsmiths Create DK acrylic yarn, which comes in a whole rainbow of shades and even some extra pastel baby shades.

But since that yarn knits to standard double knitting tension (22×28 with 4mm needles), you could use any DK yarn for this.

I’d never come across Yarnsmiths yarn before, but it’s actually UK online store Wool Warehouse‘s own yarn brand. I’ve bought from them before & always found them efficient with good pricing too.

They have plenty more free PDF knitting patterns to choose from, for both adults and children (mainly age 0-2 though).

Kitty Fair Isle Cardigan (2 – 9 years)

If you love a colourwork challenge, knit this beautiful cardigan for someone special. You’ll need a free LoveCrafts account to download it.

Knit in 8 different colours, it truly is a sight to behold with the exquisite flower motifs and eye catching check stripes. You need a few balls of the 2 main colours (blue and cream in the example shown) and just 1 ball of the other 6 shades.

There’s a 60 row chart to follow for the stranded colourwork – yikes! But many rows are simply alternating colours for the checkered bands. It’s still not TV knitting mind!

This free pattern is from luxury yarn brand Willow & Lark exclusive to LoveCrafts, using their Poetry DK yarn which is mainly merino wool. This knits to a fairly standard DK gauge, still 22 stitches but with 30 rows instead of 28, you could substitute with many DK yarns.

If you like this pattern, Willow & Lark have plenty more gorgeous children’s knitting patterns, for a range of knitting levels, for £3 each approx. This is the only free pattern I could find.