Dec 17th, 2005
Sylvia’s sweater
Long before Sylvia was born, I knit this sweater for her. It’s a simple boatneck sweater from Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss. There are some beautiful designs in that book, but most of the instructions are poorly written and full of errata (which I discovered only after purchasing all the yarn I thought I needed for another project…a few months later, I realized I was short a couple of balls of yarn, which was no longer available…grrrr….). This sweater, however, isn’t very difficult and offers a good dose of project-completion satisfaction. It consists of two identical rectangles that form that front and back, and two slightly tapered sleeves.
Rather than knit this with Debbie Bliss’s overpriced and difficult-to-find (though very very nice) own yarn, as she recommends in the pattern, I used Mission Falls 1824 100% merino wool superwash in a nice orangish-brown-russet color that makes me think of the forest. I have just found out that the manufacturer is going out of business, which is unfortunate because 1824 is a very nice yarn to work.
Overall, I think the sweater turned out nicely. The seaming is pretty simple, so I was able to put all the pieces together without creating a Frankensweater to go with the Frankenblanket. I did make the arms a bit too long, though. I was worried that I’d make them too short, so I added on a few extra rows…and then a few more… Fortunately, they stay put pretty well when rolled up!
Its funny - I was admiring that sweater in one of your pics on Sylvia’s blog. I knit a similar sweater for Thomas, also from a crappy Debbie Bliss book. Her books are beautiful to look at but all of the patterns have errors, as you said. Have you tried the Rowan Baby Knits book? Nice patterns and so far they all work!
Lovely sweater though, and it looks great on your girl.
Thanks, Kiran! I will definitely check out that book!