This is the first project that I knit – ever.

Seems kind of crazy that this was the first. I had lots of help. I took my first knitting class in January. After knitting the first horrendous swatch (which I have since learned that every knitter has this first horrendous swatch) I knit this. By the way, I still have that swatch. I keep it around to inspire confidence in my progress!

Like I said, I had lots of help. My teacher was awesome and we worked through the pattern together as I knit. Actually, she had the pattern in her head…she communicated it to me as I went. It was a great first project. Challenging enough to keep me interested (I bore easily) yet easy enough not to overwhelm me. I learned to decrease, increase, rib, pick up stitches, seam, buttonhole, etc etc. Not bad.

This sweater was just about finished when I presented it to Allie (little Allie with big ol’ Gus in her tum-tum) in April.

All I had to do to finish was to weave in the ends and put on the buttons. Buttons, blech. I took up knitting because I hated to sew. The seams were bad enough…but buttons. I picked out these cuties at Jo-Ann’s. The idea of buttoning these on a wiggly, screeching little ball of joy was even too much for me. I decided to sew in simple white buttons along the inside and use those as the functional buttons, the others could be for decoration.

This is Gus at our wedding.

As you can see he is alive and well, no longer in the tummy. Forcing me to get a move on. The sweater was made for next fall. I’m hoping he’ll get some use out of it this year.

And so, last night at long last I sewed the buttons, all ten of them. I did screw up though (what’s a project without a screw up). I put the buttons on the wrong side. They would be correct if the hand-shaped ones were used. But they are not. Therefore Gus’ sweater will button like a girl’s. Like my husband said, he’ll never know the difference, he’ll never be buttoning it. Well put. I wonder if anyone will judge his sex by the way his buttons button? An interesting experiment.

Details, Details, Details. I seamed the shoulders with a three-needle bind off, the rest mattress stitch. For some reason I had a lot of ends. I actually used these to reinforce the seams. I figured since they were there they could carry their weight. I think I did a great job – see!

The yarn is fun and cute and it’s washable! The color here is pretty dead on. Despite the nighttime photo shoot. Anything else you want to know? I will get this off to Gus this week. Hopefully his parents will take lots of photos to share. He’s so handsome!

In the meantime, here’s the only model I could find in the house. I knew there was a legitimate reason why I still had a teddy bear!

Did you forget about Poland? If so, shame on you. You’ll have the village idiot at your throat in no time. It seems the Polish want out. And they want it fast. So much for Poland. Link to the IHT found via Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire.

Have you seen this Rant on craigslist yet? Makes me want to head over to Somerville just to irritate the likes of this guy.

I quote…”Café lovers! Don’t let this happen to you! Please, guard the couches with your lives and stop the Ball Square Knitting Club before it’s too late!”

Hmmm, I would argue that his stupid keyboard typing is just as distracting as any old knitting needles. Sometimes people suck.

The country of the day – Poland. It’s all about Poland. Don’t forget Poland.

I’m sickers. Blech. The only good part of that means that I get to stay home on my couch all day. I’m obsessed with bloglines and may not be able to escape its hidden grasp on my neck. I’m reaching 100 and still adding. If this continues I may have to not only join a 12 step program for knitting in public but also, as Kerstin pointed out in the comments, blogging. Or rather, for me, blog surfing. Therapy would involve lots of laying around, some drinks and decadent food, and of course, fiber. Lots of fiber. Ahhh, not the fiber that sends you to the bathroom but that that can be twisted and wrapped around needles to create wonderful garments of color and style. Ahhh, my kind of therapy. Anyone want to join me today?