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.