Ahhh…finished and gifted and accepted and worn and gratitude and appreciation expressed! What’s better than that? Okay, I can think of a few things.

August 28, 2009
This is intended for my mom’s b-day in December. I’m such a slow knitter, and so ADD, that I thought I’d better get started. This is my first sweater that is meant to fit and flatter someone other than myself. Yeah, I’m sweatin’ it.

So far, (I’m up to the middle of the first armhole,) though the pattern is challenging me, I’m enjoying it, and loving the yarn. The stitch pattern isn’t difficult, just a bit complicated to keep up with. And the way the pattern is written…let’s just say there’s no hand-holding here. And I kind of like to have my hand held. But it’s nothing I can’t work out, it just takes a little more focused attention than I have some days.

November 6, 2009
I’ve finished the body, and it looks really good. It’s been a bit of a struggle, though. I decided not to do the fish on the upper back, and am I glad! It just didn’t look right to me to have the fish kind of schooling around the middle and then three extras on the upper back and none at all on the upper fronts. And by the time I went over that fish chart for the 17th or 18th time I was so over it.

I do wish the instructions had been a little more explicit. The last fish I did turned out to be only half a fish, and the pattern could have said that you shouldn’t start that last middle fish, cause you won’t be able to finish it. I went back with a crochet hook and re-oriented all the stitches and made the half-fish disappear, which worked really well, but it was a pain. I guess I could have figured out for myself that there wasn’t enough room for another fish on the right front, but I didn’t. I did gain experience in re-orienting stitches with a crochet hook. That’s something.

This is the first time I’ve knit a sleeve starting with the side selvage, so that’s kind of fun. It’s also the first time I’ve knit a sleeve from a chart, rather than having detailed written instructions, and that’s kind of fun too. What isn’t fun is having to figure out the second half of the sleeve on my own, as it isn’t included in the chart. But it worked out.

There is supposed to be an i-cord edge/button band that I’ve already decided isn’t going to happen. I tried it on my swatch and it looked nice, but was soooo tedious. I plan to crochet the button bands. I think it will look just fine. And be a heck of a lot faster and simpler.

Dec 9
Finished! This really turned out well. I did do the crochet edgings rather than the i-cord. Two rows of single crochet. I also added a row of slip stitch to the shoulder seam to reinforce it. This is a heavy sweater! I’m really pleased with it. Turned out great. Blocked easily to the size I wanted. And I found buttons that are absolutely perfect. Glass with 2 gold fishies swimming on an iridescent blue and red background. From CuteAsAButton.com. Pricey, but worth it. Now to give it to the birthday girl!

Dec 14
It fits!!! Yayyyy!!!!

Dec 26 update
Disappointment sets in: She wore it and the sleeves grew to past her hands. (And she has long arms!) And being the sideways sleeves they are, I don’t know of any way to shorten them. I will try to re-block it and see what happens. Fortunately, in the meantime, she doesn’t mind wearing it with the sleeves folded under. Sigh. Could be worse I guess. At least it’s wearable.

(The colors are most accurate in the lower photos.)