My Nanook

This post has been a long time coming.  Two years ago when I had my daughter and spent many wee hours of breastfeeding reading through the Archives over at SouleMama, I came across this beautiful sweater.  I knew I had to make one and wasted no time in ordering some yarn from Knit Picks.  At the time I didn’t really know what characteristics made up a quality garment yarn so I ordered some Wool of the Andes, Knit Picks’ workhorse wool yarn.  I fudged my measurements because I was barely postpartum with my daughter, didn’t do a gauge swatch, then proceeded to spend almost two years knitting this pattern.  After spending six months on the lace collar I knew the yarn was going to be too itchy to be the cuddly sweater I was yearning for, but I just couldn’t give up.

After two baths (one in lanolin and the other in hair conditioner) the sweater is wearably soft but still just itchy enough to make it a small relief to take off at the end of the day.  I did take a nap in it the other day but I’m very pregnant and have a toddler so there was a healthy dose of exhaustion in that mix.  Either way, I love the color, the fit is snug but functional, and the pattern is lovely.  It also has the bonus of being incredibly warm and the perfect layering sweater in this very cold autumn we’re having in Germany.

So, first sweater? Check! Onto something else!

Happy crafting.