Hello All,
I am so pleased with this little cardy! It really turned out well, didn't it?
I love wooden buttons and the texture of the wool (Manos del Uruguay) is splendid! The pattern is available here. I cast on in late October - just when the leaves were nice and crisp and we were enjoying our fireplace most evenings. Isn't this such an autumny sort of cardigan? However, despite her late arrival, poor Ned (who made her appearance on 19 November 2009, but I'll tell you more about that some other time) had to wait an awfully long while for mummy to get the left sleeve finished and sew on the buttons.
Luckily for me, my babes have such fine bones! Because I finally finished it a few days ago. In May? Yes. In May. We had snow at the beginning of the month! So, this cosy little cardy has actually been on a few outings! And ok - it's a bit of a pinch to get the buttons done up... but she doesn't need them done up!
Not to mention, it does mama's heart good to watch Ned so comfy in her newly knitted cardigan. I could have taken a million photos of her!
I've been thinking a lot about clothing lately - with infinite time, I would make every article of clothing my little ones wear, alas... my time is finite. There is something deeply satisfying about dressing them in something handmade. I like the way it seems to slow things down. It takes time and effort to knit up a jumper or a pair of longies. It's good to be reminded that we don't need as much as we want - even if we do buy at the second-hand shop! I find myself so easily lured by a sale, but it isn't such a great deal if it spends more time in the wash-pile than being worn. But, someone somewhere had to make that cheap t-shirt; someone had to come up with a way of creating the knit cotton fabric in industrial quantities, someone had to grow the cotton... That cheap t-shirt involves so much if you stop and think about it. That's what I mean, when I say 'thinking about clothing' - it's part of something much bigger that I've been thinking about, that many of us have... sustainability, our footprint on the planet, consumerism, waste, honour, respect... Taking the time to plan out and make clothing myself has given me a creative outlet as well! And actually, I love to make things that I know lots of others have made - it's neat to see the way the garment turns out differently for each one of us, even though we have been working off the same pattern. This one has been done a few times. I will try to find links to it for you. At the moment, I'm planning out a set of pj's for each of them, made out of their daddy's worn out dress shirts - it would break my heart to see those beautifully dyed cottons abandoned and unloved in the back of the closet. I also stopped by our local yarn shop and bought some gorgeous new wool for a vest for Sascha. He'd live outside if I let him. As it is, he's certainly out more than in! But prairie weather is unpredictable. Sometimes we wake to glorious sunshine and warmth, only to find the noon sky darkening and the winds picking up. Other mornings are misty and chilly until the sun has a chance to climb a bit higher in the sky. A vest is just the thing that's needed!
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