How to Knit a Baby Sling
Carrying your infant in a baby sling will diminish your need for cumbersome strollers and it will allow you to keep baby close without occupying your hands. Many baby slings are made from woven fabric, but if you want a sling that's a little out of the ordinary, try knitting one from wool yarn. Knitting your own sling is easy enough for a beginning knitter, and the finished sling will keep you and baby warm during the chilly winter months.
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Things You'll Need
- Bulky waste yarn
- U.S. size 11 knitting needles
- 600 to 800 yards of bulky 100 percent wool yarn appropriate for felting
- Scissors
- Tapestry needle
Instructions
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1
Provisionally cast on 20 stitches with bulky waste yarn and U.S. size 11 needles.
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2
Knit 4 rows with the waste yarn and switch to the yarn you want to use for your knitted baby sling.
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3
Knit in stockinette stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row) for 8 inches.
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Knit 1 stitch at the beginning of the next knit row, then knit into the front and the back loop of the next stitch, increasing the row by 1 stitch. Knit until 2 stitches remain, knit into the front and back loop of the next stitch and knit the last stitch.
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5
Increase 2 stitches in every subsequent knit row, knitting through the front and back of the second and second-to-last stitch loops, until you have 80 stitches.
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6
Knit without increasing for 30 inches.
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7
Decrease 2 stitches in the next knit row. Knit the first stitch, knit the next 2 stitches together, knit to the last 3 stitches, knit the next 2 stitches together and knit the last stitch.
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8
Work knit-2-together decreases at either end of every subsequent knit row until 20 stitches remain.
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9
Knit without decreasing for 10 inches.
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10
Cut your yarn with a pair of sharp scissors, and leave a long tail. Don't remove the stitches from your knitting needle.
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11
Remove the scrap yarn from the cast-on edge of the knitted baby sling. You can either pick the stitches out or carefully cut the waste yarn away from the live stitches.
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12
Slide the live stitches onto your other knitting needle, making sure you've picked up all 20 stitches.
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13
Thread the cut yarn tail through a tapestry needle and place your knitting needles side-by side to line up the live stitches.
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14
Graft the stitches on your two knitting needles together (see Resource link). Before you begin grafting, make sure your sling isn't twisted.
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15
Weave in loose yarn ends.
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Tips & Warnings
Felt your finished sling to shrink it down to size and give the floppy knitted fabric more structure. To felt the sling, place it in a pillowcase and add it and a few pair of denim jeans to a top-loading washing machine. Wash the sling in hot water with 2 or 3 tbsp. of mild detergent. When the laundry cycle is finished, remove the sling from it's pillowcase, tug it into shape and let it dry on a clean bath towel.
When selecting yarn for your knitted baby sling, find a 100 percent wool yarn that felts well. Avoid light colors such as white and pale yellow, as the process manufacturers use to achieve these light colors may prevent the wool from sufficiently felting.
