I finished C’s sweater earlier today:
I have to admit, it’s a little nervewracking, knitting a sweater for another knitter…I found myself worrying about my finishing skills in a way I never have before. The sweater still needs to be blocked, to relax the stitches a little bit, but other than that, it is finished. I’m a tiny bit nervous about the fit, since C and I are very different sizes, but I am trying to trust in the power of math, which I think C would appreciate, given that she’s a math professor!
It’s always a little bit sad, when I finish a project. I mean, it’s great to finish something, and to have turned hours of knitting into a wearable thing, but there’s this feeling of, “what now?” that creeps in when that project isn’t on the needles anymore. Thankfully, I’m pretty good at filling the hole that one project leaves in my heart…with another project:
So, I swatched for babyStripes!
What you see there was knit on size 1 needles, which gave me the feel I like, at a gauge of 9 sts/in. The corrugated ribbing is even more impossibly charming in micro-size, I think. Since babyStripes! is going to be a cardigan (pullovers + small babies seems like a bad idea to me), now I’m trying to decide between knitting in the round, and steeking, or knitting flat from front edge to front edge. Either way, stitches will be picked up for a corrugated-rib buttonband in the end. There are pluses and minuses to both, but more than anything I am worried about steeking with superwash yarns. What to do, what to do?
whit::knits 
babyStripes! is going to be so cute! My grandma always knits cardigans for babies. She always puts the zipper up the backside, since baby arms usually want to go forward anyway :)
The closure-up-the-back thing is super clever! I think I want babyStripes! to close up the front, though, so I guess the poor parents will just have to fight the natural tendencies of their babies arms for the sake of fashion :)
-whitney
The sweater looks great! Your knitter friend is going to love it, I predict :) The babystripes sweater is darling; as for steeking, if you sew the edges down really well before you cut, I bet it’ll work just fine with superwash :)
Thanks! I think I am going to go the steeking route, as much as it frightens me to have to trust in my sewing abilities before I cut my wee sweater in half!
-whitney
I’m just starting a baby cardigan in Dale Baby Ull that will be steeked (like many of the Dale baby designs) — I don’t know how this yarn compares to the yarns you’re using in “wooliness”, but I’d bet the steeking will work just fine. You could swatch it to check … I can’t wait for the pattern, by the way.
Oh, you’re right…the Dale baby designs are almost all steeked. I will definitely be testing it out on a swatch first, but I think it should be ok if I go the steeking route.
-whitney
So cute! I have no opinion about the steeking question, as I’ve never tried it. I’m just stopping by to awwwwww at the cuteness. Congrats on finishing C’s sweater!
Thanks! I think I’m going to go with steeking, even though I’m slightly terrified of having to trust my sewing abilities, such as they are. A practice sewn steek is definitely in order.
-whitney
i really like the look of steeking. knitting in the round is so much easier, especially when knitting stripes! i can’t wait to see more :) C’s sweater looks great.
It’s true, knitting in the round is easier. I will just have to get over my nervousness about steeks!
-whitney
C’s sweater looks fairly awesome to me.
Thank you!
-whitney
You don’t need a test knitter for baby stripes by any chance do you? My best cousin just announced her first baby on the way and this would be soooo perfect for her! She is an art teacher in San Francisco and loves all things bright, funky and homemade. Let me know! Otherwise I will wait with bated breath for the pattern :)