autumn leaves cardigan

My very favorite day of the year is that first day I can comfortably slip on jeans and a sweater. It feels so good after the long sticky uncomfortable summer to feel that promising chill to the air. It feels good to wear real clothes again. It feels good to be outside again. It feels good to again haunt the city’s parks and playgrounds and kick some leaves. I find this time of year relaxing, invigorating, and promising.  Warm and fuzzy thoughts fill my head of baking pies and roasting turkeys, apple picking and Sunday rides. And outside, in that crisp, sunny fresh air, I look forward to the cold winter at the end of the holidays when I can slow down, hole myself up inside with a pair of needles and begin the knitting cycle all over again.

Yesterday, baby girl and I both stepped out in hand knitted sweaters to celebrate the first sweater day. I began this one for her during our road trip to my parents’ house in Georgia. Ever since I discovered that I can in fact knit in the car without feeling sick, I have looked at road trips in a new light. Suddenly, I don’t care about two days with all five of us smushed into the Volvo. All I can see is 14 full hours of knitting. So I made sure I had knitting ready. I completed the leafy yoke of the sweater before we left and worked the ribbing on the way down. While down there, I started the hem of a second sweater so I could do the stockinette in the car on the way home. Presto – most of my fall knitting done. However, lots of things went haywire in the second half of the summer and I only put the finishing touches on this sweater last week when I felt the chill in the air approaching.

The pattern is from a Nashua Handknits booklet called Bloom, which I read about on the Purl Bee. I found the pattern was indeed reliable. I did have a hard time finding the right yarn, so it’s been on the back burner since last year. The sizing is awkward too. I imagine it’s due to the math involved in the cabled yoke stitch pattern, but they only offer sizes 3 months, 6 months and 24 months. Making some guesses based on the size of my sons at age 1, I made the 24 month size with a slightly smaller gauge. However, my largest child at birth, 9lbs 6oz to be exact, is turning into my smallest and is swimming in the sweater. Maybe I’ll try the dryer.

The yarn is Berreco Vintage. I don’t normally use acrylic, but this was a nice feeling blend and it is useful to have hard wearing yarn for children’s things. It was easy to work with and nice to handle. I suppose the only downside is that it’s slightly fuzzy after being worked and doesn’t have the crisp stitch definition other yarns might. Still, the color was spot on and while it isn’t the nicest yarn I ever worked with, I don’t regret it.

Happy Fall!