Avery Update

So...I was moving right along on my Avery baby sweater. I had the perfect pattern, perfect yarn, perfect recipient!

My goal was Earth Day - April 22 - and lo and behold, at 11:30pm April 21 I bound off! Of course my son was sleeping already, so in the morning I woke him up just so I could try the sweater on him (I'm his mom, so I can do things like that.) Wouldn't you know it, but his giant baby head would not fit through the neck hole! Doh!

It was not a problem with the pattern, or with the yarn or my gauge. The sweater didn't fit over his head because I had purposefully omitted the button placket from the back of the sweater. I had attempted to knit it in, but got frustrated and then decided that he didn't need it. The neck didn't seem too small, and he's got plenty of crew-neck tops that fit him just fine. I didn't take into account the fact that cotton, especially when it's bound off, doesn't stretch very much.

Saddened, I stuffed the sweater in my purse to show my mistake to the knitters here at work. I was resigned to rip back and redo the placket, when I got inspired to steek! I had never steeked before, so I drew up a sketch and asked 3 steeking pros - Tina, Nina & Kerin - what they thought. I got a thumbs up from each and decided to go ahead with my plan.

Then, I lost my sweater! for a whole week I couldn't find it anywhere. When I was at home I sort of assumed it was at work, but that I just didn't notice it, and then when I was at work I assumed it was at home and I wasn't noticing it there, either! Finally I looked everywhere it could be and was getting scared that I had lost it. I was already thinking about ordering more yarn to knit another when I found it! It was in a reusable shopping bag that was hanging in our pantry. (Living literally right across the street from Safeway our bags see a lot of use. However, my husband and I recently took a hard look at our budget and decided we needed to cut down on our grocery shopping trips, hence the bag hanging in the pantry for a whole week without being used!)

Coming soon, the Steek!

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of Knitting Community to add comments!

Join this Ning Network

Comment by giraffe81840 on May 15, 2009 at 7:41pm: Would love to see a picture with baby in the sweater

Comment by thepinksheep on May 12, 2009 at 5:58pm: It's like finding your cell phone in the fridge! What a cute sweater.

Comment by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on May 12, 2009 at 1:53pm: Mine is the same way... total lack of recall. It's a good thing my memory isn't totally gone... at least I know that at some point the yarn WAS here.

Comment by Katie on May 12, 2009 at 1:09pm: Misplace yarn & projects are a hazard of knitting, I suppose. Especially when one has a husband that puts things away yet has no recollection of ever doing so. (Maybe I should get him into politics!)

Comment by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on May 12, 2009 at 1:04pm: Katie,
The sweater turned out great! You definitely picked the right pattern. Loved your story... I did something similar recently... I bought 18 balls of Comfy (9 Crocus, 9 Blackberry) to knit two sweaters for my two older granddaughters. When I went into my bedroom to get the Blackberry to do my swatch... I could not find it anywhere. I thought I remembered putting it into a bookcase with doors, but it wasn't there. I still can't find it, but today I'm doing some major rearranging, so maybe today is the day that I find those 9 balls of yarn.

Comment by Melissa on May 12, 2009 at 12:59pm: Glad you found the sweater. The pantry! But of course!

Comment by NoKnitSherlock on May 12, 2009 at 11:55am: What a great story Katie! I'm so glad you picked Avery (it got my vote!) The cotton shows the stitch definition so well. Steeking is super scary - but with lots of help you will have no problem. I'm super excited to see how it turns out & of course adorable baby photos will be expected!
Good luck!!!
~Susan