Don't Sweat the Sweater

I have been working on this sweater for sweet Ethan off and on for about 6 months now. I intentionally made the largest size offered (12-18 months) because I figured it would take me awhile to complete it. This is the first sweater I have made....unless you count the doll sweater I made for Emily's American Girl doll Samantha. That was good practice for the real thing.

I now have a few thoughts on sweater knitting:

1. One day I would like to knit a sweater for myself.....but sweaters for children knit up faster. However, I doubt at this stage in the game that I will *outgrow* my sweater like my children will. Heck, I have some sweaters that are older than the servers at our local restaurants.

2. It makes me feel good to know that I CAN start and finish it. Kind of like knitting my first pair of socks earlier this year (I'll post a picture of them soon). I may never again knit another sweater or pair of socks....but now I know I am capable if I so desire.

3. Most people complain about seaming sweaters together. I actually enjoyed the seaming part.

Without further ado.....Here is the sweater on the little guy

And of course, the full length shot

(as you can see it fits him with plenty of room for growth)

This pattern was from a Debbie Bliss book call Baby Knits for Beginners. The pattern was great as long as I read each step two or three times before even picking my needles up. The only change I made was knitting the neckband in the round instead of knitting it and seaming it.

I made a v-neck sweater because I have heard a lot of stories about sweaters not fitting over heads very well. And actually, after I finished the neck and bound off I worried it would not fit over Ethan's head. But I went ahead and tried it on him......why put more effort into it if it wouldn't fit.....and it fit perfect. Overall, I enjoyed this experience so well that I am ready to knit this sweater for him next.