Lamb's Ear · 1950s Crochet Bobble Baby Cardigan
Popcorn-stitch crochet, wool-acrylic blend · circular yoke · two-button front with satin and lace rosette · no label · 1950s · 34cm length flat · fits approx. 6-12 months · good to very good, gentle overall staining
The whole body of this cardigan rises in small raised bobbles, row after row of them, so that the yellowy white reads almost sculptural before it reads soft, like something piped rather than stitched.
There is no label anywhere on this one, but I would put this at around the 1950s. One of those pieces that had clearly been made with real skill and real time: a fitted circular yoke worked from the neck down, a two-button front finished with a tiny rosette of pink satin and lace, and popcorn stitch carried evenly across the whole body and both sleeves without a dropped row anywhere.
The yoke is worked in rounds from the neckline, each row a fraction wider than the last until it opens into the fuller, flared body below, which is designed to splay rather than sit close. Both long sleeves repeat the same popcorn stitch as the body, finished at the cuff in the same texture rather than a plain rib. The front closes with two plastic buttons, and a small rosette of pink satin ribbon and lace sits fixed just beside them, the one spot of colour on the whole garment. Every edge, front, hem and cuff, is finished in a fine scalloped picot border, worked by hand rather than left raw.
Material
Wool, acrylic, plastic buttons, satin ribbon, lace
Care
Hand wash gently in cool water and avoid wringing the popcorn stitch, which holds water more than a flat knit would. Ease back into shape while damp and dry flat, away from direct heat and sun. The pink rosette trim is delicate, so keep it away from vigorous handling when washing or dressing. Store folded rather than on a hanger. As with all vintage pieces with surface detail, buttons, embellishments, ribbons or applied decoration, this piece is not suitable for unsupervised sleep.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: Measured flat, 34cm from shoulder to hem. The bust measures 30cm across buttoned (60cm around), the waist 32cm across (64cm around), and the hip flares out to 36cm across (72cm around) by design, meant to splay rather than sit fitted through the base. Sleeve length from neck to cuff is 31cm, the bicep measures 11cm flat and the cuff 7cm. Neck drop is 5cm. This sits larger than the newborn pieces in this drop, closer to a 6 to 12 month fit.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Good to very good. This is an older piece and reads it: a soft, even ivory has settled across the whole cardigan rather than staying bright white, and there is some gentle staining scattered through the crochet that did not lift with washing, most visible on close inspection rather than at a glance. No holes, no moth damage and no loose stitches anywhere in the popcorn texture. Both buttons are secure, the rosette trim is fully intact, and the picot edging holds its shape with no fraying.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
I think this one was made twice, once in wool and once in worry, by somebody counting stitches at a kitchen table with half an eye on a crib. The bobbles took longer than plain stitches would have, which tells you something about how much time she had to give away. Wherever this jacket goes next, I hope it gets worn in properly, gets a little more of that soft ivory settling into it, and is handed down again before it is ever thrown out.