A Sweater For Wyatt
After having made the sweaters for Eggs, I was browsing through the patterns at my friend's yarn store, and for some reason picked up and read a pattern I'd seen for a couple of years, but never really looked at before, Muench Yarn's Model 73.
What interested me when reading it was that it was knit in the same way as I knit the little blue sweater: cast on the bottom front, work up and add on stitches for the sleeves, binding off and then casting on stitches to make a neck opening, working down the back, binding off the sleeve stitches when the sleeves are wide enough, and finally binding the whole thing off at the bottom of the back ribbing. So, of course I had to get it and knit one for my nephew who is rather larger than my Eggs. I also got some nice multicolored yarn (on sale!), Gedifra's Donatella, a nice chunky yarn in white and blues.
The pattern as written makes a 23.5 inch chest. I wanted it a bit bigger for Wyatt who, unlike Eggs, is still growing. Following the pattern with the Donatella, I added extra rows for the length, but otherwise used the same number of stitches, and ended up with a sweater about 26 inches across the chest. But I was having a problem with it, because even though it was considerably bigger than the Eggs' sweaters, it was still...small. Okay, so I haven't done any garment knitting before for young children, only infants, and I haven't bought toddler or kids clothes in years, so it's not like I have much for a scale for reference. But, still.
So, here's the sweater....
Looks like a normal kid's sweater, yes? Well, here, I think, is why I was having a problem visualizing this on a child:
Yes, that's Mikey, with the sweater draped over him.
Now, I know that I have historically not had much of a perspective on how big my lizards are. I mean, they're my babies always, and even though I know factually how long they are and how much they weigh, they just don't seem BIG. In the days when I was doing education programs all the time, I did get a sense of their bigness, since I would see them next to or being held by children. But that's not been the case with Mike.
Thus it was startling to SEE, despite factually knowing, that his body, at least, his abdomen, when sprawled out, is about the size of an average (size-wise, since my g-nephew is of course brilliant!) 5 year old child!
What interested me when reading it was that it was knit in the same way as I knit the little blue sweater: cast on the bottom front, work up and add on stitches for the sleeves, binding off and then casting on stitches to make a neck opening, working down the back, binding off the sleeve stitches when the sleeves are wide enough, and finally binding the whole thing off at the bottom of the back ribbing. So, of course I had to get it and knit one for my nephew who is rather larger than my Eggs. I also got some nice multicolored yarn (on sale!), Gedifra's Donatella, a nice chunky yarn in white and blues.
The pattern as written makes a 23.5 inch chest. I wanted it a bit bigger for Wyatt who, unlike Eggs, is still growing. Following the pattern with the Donatella, I added extra rows for the length, but otherwise used the same number of stitches, and ended up with a sweater about 26 inches across the chest. But I was having a problem with it, because even though it was considerably bigger than the Eggs' sweaters, it was still...small. Okay, so I haven't done any garment knitting before for young children, only infants, and I haven't bought toddler or kids clothes in years, so it's not like I have much for a scale for reference. But, still.
So, here's the sweater....
Looks like a normal kid's sweater, yes? Well, here, I think, is why I was having a problem visualizing this on a child:
Yes, that's Mikey, with the sweater draped over him.
Now, I know that I have historically not had much of a perspective on how big my lizards are. I mean, they're my babies always, and even though I know factually how long they are and how much they weigh, they just don't seem BIG. In the days when I was doing education programs all the time, I did get a sense of their bigness, since I would see them next to or being held by children. But that's not been the case with Mike.
Thus it was startling to SEE, despite factually knowing, that his body, at least, his abdomen, when sprawled out, is about the size of an average (size-wise, since my g-nephew is of course brilliant!) 5 year old child!
posted by Melissa at 3:25 PM
2 Comments:
Holy craparoo... Mikey is one big boy!!!! And so handsome in that sweater.
A friend who has an iguana sent me your link today, and I think it's great - love your babies, and look forward to reading the rest of your entries. http://birrenpretzels.blogspot.com/
Post a Comment
<< Home