Monday, February 1, 2010

What's In My Crochet Bag - Mistake Edition

So, sometimes you screw up. Sometimes, you start to make something and it seems like it's turning out and then it's crap. I believe this to be universal, although obviously, I could be mistaken.

Such was the case about a year and a half ago when a friend of mine had a baby shower. Kristy has a son Brynna's age and was about to have a baby girl. She's a girly-girl sort herself, so I knew that cute clothes were going to be a must. I wanted to contribute. And of course, I wanted to contribute with a precious one of a kind, hand made baby sweater.

I started working and I worked and I was amazed at how well it was coming out. I bought buttons and finished it off. Then I held it up to see. Brynna was four at this point and Maren was an annoying case of morning sickness. Brynna immediately grabbed it out of my hands and PUT IT ON!!

You cannot imagine my shock. And possible horror. In the first place, I had done the same freakin' thing I always do and made it waaaay to big. I always do that. For one thing, I seem to crochet perfectly when gauging, but then huge when I start to do the real thing. I've all but given up on gauging because it's just not worth it when I can't seem to get it the same size on the piece itself. Secondly, I err on the side of big. I believe that kids can grow into it and adults would rather have it floppy. It's just my mantra.

And all that is fine, except that a four-year old was currently wearing a sweater I had made for a newborn. Which is not cool, peeps. Not cool. So, I bought some jammies and a stuffed animal, cried myself to sleep and took the sweater and threw it in Brynna's outgrown clothes box. (It went on her, but was a little snug. Too little to wear to school, at least and I didn't want to get it all stretched out for play clothes when it had never been worn.)

This weekend, I pulled it out, pondered its size and stuck it on Maren. She may only be 14 months, but she's wearing somewhere between 24 months and 2T, so I figured it may just fit the bill for my gigantor baby. I was right. She was damn near precious in it.

Proving that mistakes happen for a reason. Because she really needed something warm that matched pink sweatpants this weekend. Here are pics:


I made this with Bernat Softee Baby in Pink Parade. I really liked that it was mostly white with pink and lavender worked in. If I make this one again, I'll use a solid. I like the look of this sweater, but a lot of the detail is lost because of the variegation.
I can't find the pattern I used for this. I was pretty sure it was a Bernat pattern, but I can't seem to track it down. Sorry. I'll update if I find it. A lot of it is just simple dc's but the two stripes on front and back and one on each sleeve have a really nice pattern. Very much open work, though. It has to be worn with something under it.
My favorite part is the little buttons on the shoulders. This makes it easy to take off and put on without sacrificing the look of the pullover. Very handy for baby.
I'm pretty much not allowed to take pictures of Maren without taking one of Brynna. In this shot, she's wearing the robe my mom made her for her birthday. I told mom a bigger size than Brynna wears so she'd get to wear it longer and mom made the size bigger so she'd get to wear it longer. It sorta has a train. We love it though and she may still be wearing it in high school.

I sort of have a pile of WIMCB's to post, so I may actually be doing it once a week for a while. If I remember, that is.

4 comments:

Suze said...

That sweater is really, really darling! Good work there, Jessi. But I think you're right that the pattern will show up even better in a solid color. Still, any little girl is lucky to wear it.

Agent M. said...

Yes, I do believe your theory on screwing up is true. So, even though I know no one likes screwing up (I think), we can take comfort in the fact it has happened to others. I have a feeling if we dug deeper, some pretty neat stuff has been made by a mistake or two. & on a totally different topic...I love the photo rule! :)

Jessi said...

Suze - Thanks! If I can find the pattern again, I'm definitely going to try it in a solid.

Agent M - Yeah, the photo rule is good. Annoying sometimes when I'm really just trying to get something done, but it's a good thing.

Suze said...

p.s. That last photo of Brynna is priceless. I really see the resemblance to you!