Thursday, July 06, 2006

Finished!!!



I just finished the "Ripples in Time" baby sweater from the Inspired Cable Knits book by Fiona Ellis. I swear - it is so cute! I almost wish that I had a little one to put it on!!

I knit it as my entry in the Knitting World Cup.

I loved how the neckline was constructed:

ok, so this second closeup is a bit blurry...


Here is one last picture of the adorable sweater hiding among the hydrangeas:


This was my first sweater. Actually, it is the most complicated project that I have undertaken in my knitting. I started out knitting this because I am getting ready to make a sweater for myself, and decided that I ought to work at a smaller project first, just to see how it would turn out.

Knitting this sweater during the last month has really challenged me. I tend to start projects, and they linger for a while (...although I only have one abandoned sock). I have made myself stick with this project and only briefly picked up some yarn to start a washcloth because I bought the KnitLights needles and really wanted to try them out.

I felt like I made good progress on the sweater. But over the past week, I started to feel panic - silly me! I had plenty of time to finish by the end of the World Cup Knitting Challenge. (as of right now: 2 days, 17 hours and a few minutes...) This really challenged me - in my time management skills, endurance, creativeness and problem solving, and letting things be once finished.

- Time management: knitting during lunchtime, knitting while sitting on the front steps enjoying the sunshine, avoiding ALL household tasks to get the knitting done (even during a plumbing crisis...)

- Endurance: I think that like those athletes pushing themselves out on the field, I pushed my poor hands to their limits...a few days of rest without knitting will be in order. my joints ache a bit, but no numb fingers or anything like that!

- Creativeness and problem solving: Having never made a sweater before, this was new to me. Also, the only cables I've done were just in swatches (for the other sweater I might make...) I had to learn how to bind off stitches and make decreases in pattern with cables...overall it went fairly smoothly!

- Letting things be: I tend to be a perfectionist at times. There are a few mistakes in this sweater. Two miscrossed cables, one cable omitted, and an overall pattern of difficulty with gauge when I transition from a knit stitch to a purl. I have learned to be OK with this ( ok, so maybe with all of it except for the last bit - I can work on that in future projects) Few, if anyone, will notice the small mistakes.

4 Comments:

At Thu Jul 06, 10:19:00 PM PDT, Blogger Sherri said...

It is truly beautiful and you are to be commended for all you learned through the project. You are a better knitter today than you were a month ago and that is a great reward. Congrats! It is even prettier in person!!!!

 
At Fri Jul 07, 08:50:00 AM PDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Absolutely adorable!

 
At Fri Jul 07, 01:53:00 PM PDT, Blogger Dip Lady Knits said...

WOW! This is beautiful. Congrats, all the hard work paid off in such a big way. I love the neckline. I hope I get to see it up close, will you bring it to knit-night? Pat yourself on the back a couple of times and give yourself that second scoop of ice cream! (or an Iced Thai Coffee!)

 
At Fri Jul 07, 05:34:00 PM PDT, Blogger Tokyo Knitter said...

What a cute baby sweater. Amazing that it's your first sweater, great job! I love this type of neckline too. It's great for babies. The hydrangeas are so pretty :)

I would love to know, how were the Knit Lite Needles? Did you like knitting with them? Is the light bright enough to knit in the dark? Does the yarn snag where the light part connects to the needle part?

 

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