Jem's Sweaters

My son, Jem, was the reason I wanted to learn to knit. He was only about a year or so old when I walked into a Michael's (I don't remember originally what I was there for), and found a Leisure Arts Baby Aghan book. The rest is history.

After I made a few afghans and an insanely HUGE hat (it would have fit, had he had dredlocks), I made him this:

This sweater would prove my obsession with Debbie Bliss. Especially her not too clear patterns and her delicious (yet, discontinued) wool/cotton blend yarn. It's a Raglan Sweater from one of her pattern books, the name eludes me at the moment. It was made with muted olive green wool/cotton blend. I still love to finger this sweater. It's still soft and beautiful. Unfortunately it's too small for my then three year old. *sigh* They grow so fast don't they? What did I learn? Never believe everything you hear. I was told to increase one stitch per row (on the sleeves) and ended up with a lopsided sleeve. It only took two more tries to realize that I needed to do two increases per row AND keep track of how many rows I had knit.

This was Jem's Christmas sweater from two years ago. I have a little tradition with him. I let him pick out the pattern for each sweater. He really liked the tiger sweater. (Again, the name of the book eludes me and since I have already packed my knitting books, you'll have to wait...) This was made with Sirdar DK in blue, lime green, orange and black. Intarsia be damned. I love the outcome, but it was no easy task. What did I learn? Never leave yarn out for kittens for they might not understand what yarn is really for. I also learned that those little butterflies SUCK! I had about 10 on each row and was going crazy.

This was a sweater from Rowan Junior. I had to make it a bit larger and longer, but all in all, I didn't have too many problems with it. I used Paton's Canadiana in white, tan, chocolate and navy blue (though it looks black). What did I learn? Never leave out hot chocolate on the coffee table where your knitting is. Luckily it washed right out.

Jem has a few other sweaters as well. I don't know what we will do this year. I'm thinking we have a pretty good tradition going, but I know that as he gets older something "homemade" probably won't be ideal. I'll just have to enjoy what time I have left to knit for my baby boy. (At least the bun in the oven won't have much choice the next few years, huh? *evil laugh*)