Don't look now, but there might be some knitting on this here blog...

Yes! Look! Knitting! I finished something! Great God Almighty!





This is the Scrappy Socky Stripey Cardi from f.pea, using Yarn Pirate merino sock yarn in the (wait for it) Sweet Pea colorway. (Note: I have an overabundance of sock yarn, if such a thing is possible, and am forever looking for patterns that can use variegated stuff. For some bizarre reason, I currently like baby and toddler sized items. Feel free to leave me suggestions.)

I made a couple of modifications--the most noticeable being the absence of stripes other than those caused by the variegated yarn. The reason for this mod? I was lazy and didn't feel like searching out a matching contrast. The yarn was busy enough. If I knit it again in a bigger size, I'll add the stripes for visual/knitting interest and also because I used almost an entire skein of sock yarn for this sweater and so will need to add more next time around.

Also, The Tadpole has chunky arms. Too chunky for the pattern as written. So, I added some extra stitches and decided against using the decreases. The sleeves are a bit long, but I actually like them wide.

I loved that this sweater had NO SEAMING. The only sewing I did was to put the buttons on. I'm not crazy about the button loops, but I haven't decided what I'd like to do to make them better. Something to think about in all my spare time, I suppose.

Overall, a cute sweater. The way the yarn pooled? I couldn't have planned it any better. i love it. However, I should have made the sweater one size bigger than I did because The Tadpole will have outgrown it by, like, tomorrow. She's not very long, but she's a solid baby. So, while there's plenty of length in the sweater for her, she's already stretching those button loops. Oh well. Live and learn.

Now I have to decide what comes next on the knitting agenda. I have yarn for soakers, and she needs soakers since she's outgrown all of her diaper covers. And she may be ready to wear wool now as (knock wood) I think she's down to pooping only two times a day instead of, like, seven.

But, gasp, I also have a hankering to knit myself a sweater. Seriously--I bought the yarn and the pattern well over a year ago. I meant to knit it while I was pregnant because it would have worked over my bump. But it would still be a very useful sweater for nursing. And I could wear it if I ever decided to do this grow-a-baby-thing again.

So, what do you think? More cute stuff for my cute kid, or something for the Mama?