A Finished Baby Object

but not the finished object...
(no baby yet)

In a moment of personal triumph, I managed to overcome my recent case of PCAS (Project Completion Avoidance Syndrome) and seam the sleeves, set in the sleeves, work the easy garter stitch border, and even sew on some buttons, for the finishing touches of the Garter Stitch Cardigan. I have said that garter stitch is not my favorite, but the stripey goodness completely redeems the stitch in my eyes. I definitely like it in 2 or more colors much more than as a solid.
I'm not thrilled with the plain jane buttons- insert mental note to start a button stash enhancement program ASAP. I'd really like to get some orange buttons to bring out that flashy little stripe I couldn't resist adding, but that is gonna take a trip 'down to the city', hehe, I sound like such a 'hick' when I say that.

My parents are both from a tiny little town in rural Minnesota, and I remember it always amusing me when the relatives who never migrated would ask us how things were 'in the city'. I laughed because we didn't live in the city. We lived in a suburb, an outer ring suburb, as in, as far removed from 'the city' (which, in my mind, meant Minneapolis) as you could get before actually qualifying as rural. There was even a prairie/field in our back yard, before it turned into a new neighborhood, with cookie cutter houses and no mature trees...

We now live further out from that outer ring (and that ring has grown significantly) in a rural setting outside our small town's 'city limits' and I find myself saying things like "the next time I get down to the cities" (In Minnesota, the cities means Minneapolis and St. Paul, and even the surrounding area, also known as 'the metro'). Well, suffice it to say, the button selection down 'in the cities' is much more gratifying.

Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton

Graphite 625

Azul 628

Poppy 601

My favorite thing about this little sweater is that orange stripe, it just tickles me and makes me smile. The next best thing (besides the fact that this cotton is so cuddly soft) would have to be the warmth of the color Graphite. It is the loveliest of grays, which, I'm sure my pictures (no thanks to the flash) cannot do justice. It is not a cold gray, even next to the coolness of the Azul. It has just a touch of warm brown to it that makes it oh, so lovely, really. I bought a bag a while back, intending to make something for me, something that hasn't happened yet, but working with this color has renewed that idea and the wheels in my head are definitely turning around that thought again- time to start sketching.
It had been a wee bit of time since I last seamed anything in garter stitch, and I don't think I had ever done so in garter stitch stripes. That may have had something to do with my stalling... A quick glance back through a reference book, and I was off and running. The stripes lined up perfectly, even on the very shaped sleeve, and it took all of about 5 minutes.

I made the 6 month size, so between my babies being born at 'a healthy weight' and growing like weeds, it looks like it ought to fit perfectly during the coldest parts of a snow-covered Minnesota winter.

Ali's Arbitrary Rating-

When all is said and done, I would give this little sweater pattern 4 out of 5 stars. It is a quick, easy, and cute (especially striped, can't forget the stripes) baby item that would be a great gift knit for a gestating friend or relative!

Enough for now, I have another hat to finish,

happy knitting-

ali

2 More Days, 1 more day...

The countdown continues...
(and it is likely to continue for another week, maybe 2, if history means anything...)

But, let us distract ourselves with busyness, shall we? There is much fall cleaning to do (you know, those obsessive little things like wiping down all the lightswitch plates and dusting behind the bed), fall decorating to start, and fall projects to make. There are regular meals to cook (we can't have pizza every night), extra meals to freeze (like shepherd's pies!), menus to plan (I wander aimlessly through life, and my kitchen, without a plan), grocery lists to print out (again with the plan), and actual grocery shopping to be done (the hardest part of the plan). No matter how hard I try, I just can't find a way to feed my family with food we don't have...

A little more knitting is in order (it always is, isn't it?). I have been practicing a little 'project completion avoidance', having completed all but the seaming on a Garter Stitch Cardigan , from Knitting for Baby (Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas).

Garter stitch and seaming are not my favorite knitting concepts, so I'm dragging my feet on the finishing touches and distracting myself with things like a couple more hats, a new little sweater design, and the Mystery Sock KAL- my cuffs are done, and I hope to get a good start on clue #2 tonight, you know, if I'm not in labor...

Anyhoo- we're off to soccer practice, maybe I should offer to help out with some drills, you know, to help things along a bit... or maybe not. The leaves are in full color around here and I think I'll walk around the lakeside a bit (yeah, rough, ain't it? Soccer field by the lake...) with the other 5 and try to snap some cute fall photos, that, and maybe sit and sew a seam, maybe.

Happy knitting-
ali