First (Finished) Sweater!

Somewhere in this house, I have half a baby sweater that I started for Sean.  I got lost somewhere in the pattern and never found my place.  And I don't have the heart to rip it out and re-purpose the yarn.  Hence, the name of this post.

I started this sweater (pattern:  Coastal Stripe Pullover, LionBrand.com) around Christmastime.   At first everything was great, but I started to doubt my knitting abilities.  First, at the neck shaping, then at sewing the whole thing together.  It turns out that I had nothing to be nervous about, because I did it!  I just sat down and told it that I would not allow it to whip my butt and well, it listened.  I can't wait for Will to try it on tomorrow.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the sleeves may be a little short, but OH WELL!

For my first sweater, I learned a lot.  But especially, I learned that you have to pay close attention when sewing, or you might end up sewing the sleeve on backwards.  Oops!  Then I learned how to un-seam pretty quickly.  I did make some modifications, I made the sleeves and the hem ribbing instead of stockinette stitch because I didn't want them to curl upwards.  Also, I made the stripes a little wider than the pattern indicated, I'd love to tell you it was a decision of style but really, I can't count.

I am so, so proud.  A garment, my very first garment.  If you had told me two years ago that I could have made a sweater I would have laughed in your face.  But here I am, and practice makes....well, for good knitting.  And now that I've cut my teeth on a child's sweater, maybe someday I'll make a sweater for me.  Though I'm not really in a huge hurry.  :)