Wednesday, September 23, 2009


After letting Emily (Kim Hargreaves, Dark House Collection) sit loitering in a chest, waiting only to be sewn together and to have cuffs and a neckline put on her, for months and months, I finally pulled her out and finished her, figuring I would want something to wear after the baby's born and it's cold out.

The only trouble is, she fits me now.

She's not supposed to fit me now. She's supposed to be a nice, figure-hugging supple thing with huge bell sleeves (that part is certainly true). She's not supposed to be all baggy and cozy (odd, isn't it, how "cozy," when used to describe an apartment = small, but when used to describe a sweater = something you could scrunch your knees up under).

Perhaps it's my own fault, since I used Knitpicks Comfy instead of the called-for Rowan Kid Classic, but my gauge was pretty good....and I usually am pretty successful with this kind of thing. But then, so is Kim Hargreaves at sizing.

I don't dislike the sweater, by any means. It doesn't fit me great, but it is incredibly comfortable, and will keep me nice and warm in the Winter, and will probably look fine and slouchy over a pair of jeans. It's just not quite the elegant sweater of my imaginings....

It was also shockingly easy, for a Kim Hargreaves design. I generally find that even her easy-looking sweaters have hidden trickiness to them. And I guess this was no exception, except that I ignored her one tricky thing:

I ignored the whole knit-the-neckline-and-then-sew-it-on thing. I'm sure it would have looked damn skippy to have purls be the ribs and knits be the not-ribs, but that's just too tricky and annoying and I hate sewing, and nobody but a fellow knitter would care and this sweater didn't fit well enough for me to think I was really going to impress fellow knitters anyway.

So I just picked up stitches and knit in regular 2X2 rib, as I suspect most people do.

This was, by the way, photographed on a lovely walk Dave and I discovered in the Liberty State Park area of Jersey City last weekend. Nobody seems to know about it really, and it's lovely and peaceful and exceedingly well-maintained (no garbage cans, though).


Jodi Meadows said...

Looks fabulous and comfy! And the bonus to having it fit you now is that you can *wear* it now. Yay!

sarah said...

trust'll be glad it's a bit big. it takes a bit for your body to get anywhere near normal...and if you're nursing, certain parts will stay out of the norm until you start weaning and you won't want body hugging things...too hard to discreetly stick a baby under. you'll love having a sweater that fits a bit bit, is forgiving and gives you room.