(as good as) Finished! Two-Tone Fitted Sweater

Before I begin, I have to say I'm feeling some mama guilt about this whole post because at 4:30 this afternoon, after much struggling with getting My Child to nap, I finally closed his door and Let Him Cry. I seem to be the only person on the planet who can't get him to sleep properly during the day, and I'M HIS MOTHER! Every babysitter that comes over to watch him while I go to campus for rehearsals and whatnot says upon my return things like: "He just woke up. He's been sleeping the whole 2 hours you were gone," or "I just put on an Ella Fitzgerald CD and he konked out on my shoulder, so I put him in his crib." People, I don't get it. I nurse him, I rock him, I sing to him, I put him in his crib and stand there calmly with my eyes closed, modeling good nap behavior and NONE OF IT FUCKING WORKS!! This afternoon I was at the point where I either needed to start drinking or go shopping, both of which are unhealthy actions I would probably regret, so I closed his door (okay, I may have let it slam just a wee little bit) and went outside in the cold, gray snow to take some pictures for this blog, which should hardly be a priority considering all the things I Should Be Doing To Finish My Doctorate (most of which involve playing the piano, which I obviously can't do while he's sleeping, can I?) Long story short: he was asleep in less than 10 minutes, so maybe I'm not such a terrible, horrible, no-good mother after all.

Sigh.

You still with me? Good.

I finished that two-tone purple and red sweater/jacket. But isn't it nearly spring, you ask? Why were you so driven to get it done when 'twill soon be too warm to wear it, you ask? Friends, I live in Wisconsin. It was finally warm enough for me to bike the 4 miles to campus for a rehearsal this morning, and by "warm enough" I mean 22 degrees -- not counting the wind chill.

Yikes, Susan. Enough with the bitching and moaning. Let's see the dang thing!



It fits me beautifully, now that I've been to the frog pond and back. Just a little dip, nothing major, but it's much, much better than before The flare has been tamed.



(Yes, that is a belt buckle; no, I'm not that happy to see you...and by the way, you don't get to see my face in this picture because it was before I had finished my morning latté. Nuff said.)



This was my first sweater with one-row buttonholes. I have some tweaking to do. First of all, I did 4-stitch buttonholes and they're too big; the buttons slip out. I'll be goll-darned if I'm undoing the buttonhole band again, so I have a few options.

Option #1: Stitch up each buttonhole a little bit to the right size. This would be very easy.

Option #2: Just never button the sweater. I like my cardigans hanging open, so no real problem here. This would be even easier.

Option #3: Try backing the buttonhole band with some wide, red grosgrain ribbon. I've never done this on a sweater, but I've seen glimpses of it on some other knitblogs, and I think it might make the whole thing a little more sturdy. Thoughts, anyone?

In any case, I'm considering this baby finished, because I've already worn it.

Pattern: from Winter '06 Knitter's Magazine
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in eggplant (for the main body) and spice (for the trim)
Modifications: I did the body of the sweater in one piece, and the sleeves in the round so I could avoid seams, because I think seams in raglan sweaters are a little silly. Once it was ostensibly done, I took part of the bottom out and added some length, so at that point I was quite glad I'd done it in one piece to begin with.
Gauge: So glad you asked. Early on, I realized my gauge was a little tighter with the sleeves. I know, I know, I know gauge is often tighter in the round than back-and-forth but I swear to all the gods of sheep and wool out there that this is the first time it's happened to me. Fortunately, the change in gauge was minimal (on size 8 needles, 19 st = 4" in the round, 18 st = 4" back-and-forth), and after blocking there was no way to tell. The sleeves fit perfectly, so I've got no complaints.
Other comments: This sweater was nice and quick. I think it took roughly two months from start to finish, and that was with other projects cropping up in the meantime. It's not superbly fashionable, but I think the bold red (my favorite color, by the way) and fitted quality keeps it from making me look like an old school-marm.

Comments

It's because you rock him and nurse him etc etc that he won't sleep with you. You are his entire world. He wants to be close to you to not miss one moment of your presence. Therefore, he will not sleep when you are around. (My kid was/is the same way, and I was when I was little, too). Savor it, because when he's a teenager and wants to spend all his time with his friends, you'll have these memories to savor.
Suze said…
thanks, jenn. i suspect it's something like that going on. and i do savor it...up until that final hour of the afternoon when i realize i've gotten NOTHING done because i haven't had the chance!

hugs!
Thorny said…
The sweater looks great! And I love the colors! Striking and bold without being garish or obnoxious - just perfect.

And now that I think about it - that's totally how I used to be able to get my kids to nap, too, once they reached that point of refusing to nap when I was around. I'd forgotten, I think. But I totally did the Bad Mom Thing and put them in their cribs with a couple books, a toy or two, a bottle of milk/formula, and they usually conked out within 15 minutes or so. Sometimes they'd fuss a little bit, but they almost never really /cried/ (and if they did I was in there right away, of course).

Glad you were able to get some Mama Time!
Steph said…
I love the sweater. I'd be itching to make one myself were it not for the fact that down here in Kans-ass it is, like, 64 degrees and sunny and beautiful. Sux 2 B U!
ann said…
yep. that's the secret to getting a kid to sleep. give him a peaceful goodbye and then ignore him.

love the sweater.

that's cute--red's been your favorite color as long as I've known you!! (more than 15 years)

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