While Waiting

Do you remember last week that I mentioned I was working on a secret project that I needed to finish up soon?  This is why.  My sister Jenn is expecting her first baby! It's a little girl and her due date is tomorrow, February 11th.  I got the call this morning that labor has commenced and Jenn and Mitch are at the hospital!!

It's a good thing then that I finished this adorable little sweater last night.  Perfect timing!  Let me tell you about it.  First, let me say that this beautiful pattern is not for knitters who hate finishing.  My goodness, is there a lot of seaming for this sweater!

The sleeves and the body all have a garter lace edging.  The lace is knit separately and then sewn on.  The funky part for me was that you knit to an estimated length and before you bind off you sew the lace to the corresponding piece. Genius in that you can then easily add or subtract length.  Awkward because the piece is still on the needle and the lace changes stitch count from 13 to 16 stitches, so you don't necessarily end with the same number of stitches that you started with.  That made the seaming a little challenging.

The button band and neck edge is finished in a picot edge.  Beautiful, but not quick.

With the fussy nature of this sweater I thought that it needed buttons that have just a little something extra, but not over the top.  I found these sweet flower buttons at my local JoAnn's Fabrics.  I tried simple plain buttons too, but the flower ones I thought were just perfect.

Just enough fussy when it's all tied together but not overpowering.

I didn't do any modifications this time, but if I ever make this sweater again, I think I would knit the lace pieces first and then pick up stitches from that to knit the stockinette parts.  As written, I think I may have actually spent as much time finishing and fussing as I did doing the actual knitting.

Pattern: Jasmine Lace Edge Cardigan by Louisa Harding
Pattern Source: Natural Knits for Babies and Moms
Yarn: Rowan Pure Life Organic Cotton dk
Needles: US size 4 & 5

Hopefully I'll be back later this weekend with good news to share!