Did you know that one of my VERY first knitting designs I ever published was back in 2009 and it was my Little Coffee Bean baby cardigan?! Throughout these last 14 years, it’s been so wonderful to see so many knitters enjoy this pattern. And I know many have used it as their first sweater pattern too which I just love.
This pattern remains available as a free PDF download both on Ravelry as well as here on my website. And I recently revamped it a bit to include an 18-month size (so there are now 4 sizes available) and updated my tips page so there are lots of tutorials and other tips now available.
Did you know though that there are 2 other patterns that are part of the Coffee Bean family?
For those looking for a toddler/child version of Little Coffee Bean, I had published “Wonder Years” back in 2010, and just this month I revamped the pattern (to bring it up to my 2023 standards). This pattern is constructed just like Little Coffee Bean, but I included 2 contrasting color stripes and just worked the stripes at the top of the yoke. However, if you want your Wonder Years to look just like Little Coffee Bean, you can choose to stripe throughout. And in the new version of the pattern I provide info and tips about this as well.
But teens and adults love a striped sweater too, right?! So if you’re looking for a teen/adult version of this design, then you can knit the Coffee Bean Cardigan! I knit the below sample in Berroco Ultra Wool:
I also recently revamped this pattern a bit as many people had felt the neckline was a bit too wide in the original. So I made some additional tweaks to it and the latest version (version 3.0) was released in August 2023.
Which Coffee Bean will you make?
If you have never knit a sweater before, any of these 3 patterns would make a great “first sweater” garment. Often people will start with the baby version since it’s a quick knit and this way they can learn all the techniques needed to make the other versions (but in a bite-sized version!). But if you prefer to start with the child or adult versions you’ll still find all the patterns easy to follow and suitable for all skill levels!
Below are links to all 3 of the patterns:
Little Coffee Bean Baby Cardigan
Wonder Years