Any Size Wool Soaker Pattern

A traditional wool nappy soaker for use as a breathable waterproof cover over cloth nappies.  Smaller needles for the ribbing at waist and leg cuffs mean the ribbing should pull in enough to fit even those with slimmer waists and thighs without the need for a waist drawstring (though a drawstring can be added if desired).

This pattern has been designed to be customised to any size wearer (from baby/toddler through to older children or adults) and any thickness of wool (though I recommend worsted/aran wool for baby/toddler sizes and worsted or chunky wool for larger sizes).

Unless you're making a purely decorative nappy cover to go over a disposable nappy, you will need to knit this in real wool that hasn't been superwash treated for it to be effective as a breathable soaker.

You will need to provide measurements for waist, hips, rise and thigh, as well as stitch and row gauge for the wool you're going to use, and from this your customised pattern will be calculated.

Please note I'm still developing how to actually present this pattern (whether as a spreadsheet template you just type your measurements into and it calculates your pattern - if I can manage that - or a written template where you give me your measurements and I create your pattern manually) so the details here may change by the time I actually get the test started!

New to the idea of wool nappy soakers and want to know more?  Check out my recent blog article: https://www.wombleknits.com/post/how-to-use-wool-nappy-soakers.  Also, a washing/lanolizing guide will be included in the pattern.

PLEASE NOTE applications are open until 29 April, and I won't be choosing my testers until after this date, so don't expect to be accepted or rejected until 30 April, with the test starting on 1 May.

Whatever you need them to be!

Knitting in the round for the body of the soaker

Knitting a small circumference in the round for the leg cuffs, using double pointed needles or magic loop  (Note: adult size cuffs can be knit normally in the round on a short circular needle)

Picking up stitches around the leg hole for the leg cuffs

Kitchener stitch to join the front and back of the soaker between the legs (link to tutorial provided)

Stitches: 2x2 ribbing and stocking stitch

Needle sizes 

• Larger size - the size recommended for your wool or a size lower if you knit loosely
• Smaller size - around 1mm narrower, or even smaller for really tight ribbing

I used:

• For worsted yarn: size US2 / 2.75mm for ribbing and US5 / 3.75mm for body
• For chunky yarn: size US6 / 4mm for ribbing and US8 / 5mm for body

Needle types

Waist ribbing: circular needles in smaller size

Body: circular needles in larger size

Leg cuffs: double pointed needles or longer circular needles for magic loop in smaller size (or a shorter circular for adult size thighs)

Provide the measurements requested on application (I do have some standard baby sizes to be used, but ideally the point is to test the use of actual measurements, even if you'd rather wait until the test begins to take those measurements, given how fast babies grow)

Knit a soaker using the individual pattern emailed to you.

Pattern checking and typo-spotting as you knit.

Completed project in Ravelry, linked correctly to the pattern.

At least one high quality image to be used for publicity for the pattern.

Completed project questionnaire on Yarnpond.  Please be prepared to specify your yarn (and what it's made of if not wool), along with yards per 100g if possible (or name the yarn so I can find this out myself) so I can compare weights and yardage.  Please also keep track of time spent and needles used.

Free copy of the finished pattern

A £10 voucher to spend in my Etsy or Ravelry stores

The designer has created the following milestones, in order to keep track of progress during the test knit. By marking off each milestone as you complete it, you can easily keep the designer up to date with your progress.