Ok, so it’s only big enough to fit a doll.

But that’s ok, I like it anyway.  I knit this sweater for a class with Debbie Abrahams called “Professional Finishing Techniques.”  I figured I’d never knit a sweater without learning how to do it.  Knitting the pieces?  Easy.  Seaming it up?  Not so bad…  on a teddy sweater.  Remind me never to knit a sweater that requires seams.  Do you know how many ends there were to weave in on this tiny little sweater?  Tons!  Ok, you caught me, I haven’t sewn in all the ends yet.

I was a bad.  I waited til the last minute to knit up the pieces for the class.  Since it was a finishing class, we had to knit up the pieces before class.  Well, we were out of town, days went by, didn’t have a chunk of time to get gauge, and there I was, the day before the class. I had about 24 hours to knit the front, back, and two sleeves.  The only needles I could get gauge with were some awful straight aluminum needles.  I have basically only knit circular projects thus far and now I know why.  Ok, maybe the pain was more than partially due to the fact that I knit the whole sweater in 24 hours or less.  That could have had something to do with it.  But those aluminum straights.. let me tell you, they hurt the hands.  I was so frantic to get the dang sweater done, I didn’t even think to use my size 7 circular needle on the sleeves.  Now that would have been smarter and less painful.  One doesn’t think of these things when they are in the throes of a knitting frenzy.  I couldn’t even move my right hand by the time I was finished.  But I did finish that sucker before the class started.  Right before.  I always have been a procrastinator.  The yarn from my stash surprised me, pretty, eh?  I couldn’t find anything else to knit with it and I didn’t want to buy yarn for the class, so the doll got a nice wool sweater.

Pattern: Simple Sweater
from “Knits for Children and Their Teddies” by Fiona McTague
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool
Needles: Size 7 Susan Bates Aluminum Straights

Now I’m back to being mad at this:

WHY can’t they make the center tail of yarn easier to find? I gave up.  How is second sock syndrome to be avoided when I can’t even get the #$%^& yarn out!