Molly's First Sweater

Note: Let's just say that Blogger hates me. I've been trying to post this for over a week, and the program just now seems to be cooperating. Enjoy!

Ta Da!



For my first attempt at a sweater I chose the Baby Yoda Sweater by Cari Luna in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. I loved this little sweater from the moment that I saw it - the cute little rolled cuff at the neck, the cute tie and side, and the organic-ness of the two front flaps. The actual knitting up bit went swimmingly - the instructions were very easy to understand and the knitting went very quickly. I had never really seemed anything before, but Katrina was super helpful and I must admit that I am super-proud of my stockinette seams. Find the seam. I dare you!



Unfortunately, I became rather disenchanted after I got the whole thing sewn together (but without the i-cord attached or the ends of the strings sewn in). The sleeves stick straight out from the sides of the body, and the whole thing seems a little big for a 0-3 month old baby (which is what I was supposed to be knitting for). It was at this point that I really looked at the label for the first time and discovered that Cotton Fleece is supposed to be dry clean only. I had mistakenly assumed that anything with cotton in its name would be machine washable. I figured that there was no way that this baby's Mama was going to have the time or motivation to dry clean this sweater, so into the washing machine and dryer it went. If it's going to disintegrate or felt when it gets washed, I would much rather that it do so on my watch. Luckily it survived the laundering just great, although all those strings I hadn't bothered to weave in were now ratty looking. As much as I hate weaving in ends, I especially dislike weaving in ratty-looking ends. So the poor little sweater sat on my laundry pile for two weeks, and glared at me everytime I walked by. For goodness sakes - the whole thing was sewn together and all it need was 30 minutes attention to be actually be finished. The longer I put it off, the more I disliked the scrawny ends and the way that the sleeves stood out from the body.

However, after telling my mother that the package would be in the mail on Monday I figured I should get my act together and finish the silly little sweater. And lo and behold - just like the tree at the end of the Charlie Brown's Christmas Movie - all the sweater needed was a little love.

In its new tidy incarnation, I find the little garter stitch edging riveting,



the ties adorably cute,





and the sleeve seam perfection itself.



I even made little booties to accompany it.






Baby Mary Jane Booties in Rowan 4-Ply Cotton. The white booties with the pink buttons accompany the sweater, while the khaki booties go with the striped baby bib from last week.