The Yoke Sweater

I want to tell you about this adorable sweater that I knit. Or tell you about how adorable it was supposed to be.

I came across this pattern on Ravelry via Pinterest. And knew I had to knit it up.

I was lacking natural light for the photos so I apologize for their quality.

It is a pretty basic pattern that I figured I could start with. It could have turned out lovely.
A few things happened. I used a 100% acrylic that I found at Michael's in the discount bin.
*siren* Big mistake. I've learned my lesson on that thank you very much.

EDIT: Its not that acrylic doesn't have its place in this world... maybe just not on my needles...

I had hard time knitting the sleeves on double point needles. I just couldn't pull the stitches tight enough from needle to needle. Never mind trying to boss around 4 needles at once! Holy hanna it ain't easy. I mean look at this picture below. Its like trying to paint a beautiful canvas with a bunch of mosquitoes nipping at your ears but you need your hands to paint, then swat, then paint, then... see what I'm saying?

Then, by the time I finished it my daughter had fattened up so much (from her high fat diet instructed by the doc) that its a wee bit tight on her. Even for a two button style.

Proud girl modeling. Its hard to get her to sit still now though!

I do love the 3/4 length that came out though.

And while digging through my buttons my sister and I found these gorgeous vintage looking ones that would have been perfect. They have a mother of pearl finish to them. But they will be used another time!

Here's how they would have looked.

 What a 100% acrylic prevents is hiding your mistakes. An all (or mostly) natural fibre would allow you to wash and 'set' the stitches to hide the 'blips'. You can give it memory. And this first version needs much assistance in that category!

The change in stitching is from the needle to needle transfer. And can't be fixed with washing.

And this is how it looks laid out. Too messy.

I'm still happy to have knit it and learned new techniques though. Thank goodness for YouTube! And my mum on speed dial!

So I have gotten some new yarn. More in keeping with the type used in the pattern. A mustard yellow that I hope will block out better in the end to cover the gaps and errors. And if not, well, I'll just keep trying darnit!