FO: Andalusia (A Sweater for Julian)

I didn't make a sweater for Julian for his first Xmas (I made two toys instead).  But after knitting this up and giving it to him for his '1-year-old Xmas', I'm wondering if I'll make it a tradition.  Geez, what ever happened to the 'I'll never knit tiny human clothes because they grow out of them too fast' principles I once had?  Being an aunt has fogged my brain.  Of course knitting a sweater for a 1-year-old is quite different and less time-consuming than knitting one for an older child.  So we'll see.  But I sort of like the idea.  Trouble is, my brother and partner are in the pool for another child and at least for the next few years, doing 2 each Xmas will likely not be an option.  Decisions, decisions.

 

The pattern I chose this year was Andalusia.  I thought it was a cute sweater, full of pretty texture...with an offset row of buttons which is a design feature I am loving more and more.  I didn't have any superwash wool in my stash that I thought would work so made a quick trip down to my LYS (we actually sort of have one now and she has more and more great yarn every time I visit).  I had a dark red or rust color in my head because I knew Julian would look good in those colors.  But as soon as I saw the brown, I knew it would match his skin tone, eyes, and hair perfectly.  

After knitting the pattern, I had a couple thoughts/modifications.  First is that though this is a tiny human sweater (so the assumption is they are easier), I don't think the pattern would be particularly clear for someone just learning how to knit sweaters...especially top-down sweaters.  I understood the construction having knit a couple for myself so could figure out what to do fairly easily.  But less experienced knitters may not.  Also, after the initial cast-on numbers, no more stitch counts were provided.  I realize I am fully capable of counting up the number of increases/decreases and calculating the stitch counts but for a paid pattern, I was disappointed by the lack of detail.  And the pattern said the yarn estimate was generous but I used well more than 200 yards less (>30%) than what was called for.  That seemed extreme to me.

Also, while it was the texture that first drew me to the pattern, after I knit it up, I felt it may have 'too' much texture...to the point of being distracting.  At least for my preference.  There is the rib along the bottom and collar, the seed-stitch panel and the andalusia stitch covering the rest of the sweater.  To attempt to make it 'easier' on the eye, I did two modifications.  One was to continue the seed stitch pattern of the front panel to the bottom of the sweater instead of switching to rib. I was afraid that by leaving the rib on the rest of the sweater, this would pull the front weird, but since the rib is knit with the same size needles as the body of the sweater, and thus loose, it turned out to be fine.  I also only knit one inch of rib on the bottom (pattern calls for 2 inches) to be less obvious and to match the sleeves.  I really like these modifications and think it makes for a more visually balanced look.  If I knit this again, I may consider replacing the andalusia stitch with simple stockinette to simplify the look even more. However, the sweater looks awesome (if I do say so myself) on Julian so maybe that change isn't necessary!

It's so hard to get a non-flash, non-blurry picture of a child when they are learning to walk.  And one that has been sick so finally getting to 'walk' outside for the first time in days.  This was the best I could do!  But notice one thing...I asked for a chest measurement when I started knitting but didn't ask for arm or length measurements.  The arms are particularly narrow relative to the chest in this design.  It fits him but there isn't a lot of room to wiggle. 

Some flash pictures of him in the house showing the back etc.
    

Despite some of the above concerns, I really enjoyed knitting up this sweater and think it looks great on Julian.  And reports from my brother say that it gets tons of compliments every time he goes 'out' in it!
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Now playing:  Music For A Found Harmonium by Patrick Street 


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