With a smaller needle (and Pickles’ infamous small sizing) I’d tried following the free pattern (5-6 yrs) and it ended up as a size 2 yrs. (Edit: This yarn grows, so after blocking I would say a 3 yrs!)

Cast on 86 st. Work in garter st for 13 rounds. Start working in st st, increasing 8 st on the first round = 94 st total.

And from then on I followed the pattern.