This was a charming sweater to knit.  I love shawl collared sweaters like this.  I have a few like it from my college JCREW days.  I knit this sweater for a friend of mine who is going to have a baby.  I just love seeing babies in cozy sweaters — makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  For this project I used the Baby Sophisticate pattern by Linden Heflin in size 0-3 months found via Ravelry.  (By the way, I like the name Linden — reminds me of the herb, linden flower).  I knit the sweater in the round using Lion Brand Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton in mustard.  I think I can confidently say that mustard is my most favorite color.  There needs to be more mustard colored yarn out there!  The yarn is nice, but it’s not my favorite.  It fuzzes up easily which I don’t like, but it’s very soft, which is nice for newborns especially.

This sweater was my first project involving knitting in the round using double pointed needles (DPNs) for the sleeves.  I thought it would be really hard to use DPNs, but it wasn’t!  I used this video by Very Pink Knits to help me along the way. Her tutorial is for a sock project, but she demonstrates how to use DPNs.  I’ll probably use her video for knitting socks as well since she’s so easy to follow.  The one thing I didn’t like about knitting this sweater was my tension — I felt that the actual shawl collar could have been wider and more prominent.  I used three leather-like buttons to add a bit more sophistication — love them so much!!!  I’m thinking about also adding some suede elbow patches?  Hmmm…maybe next time. I’ll probably knit another one when my next babers rolls around.

Every baby needs a warm shrug, don’tcha think?  This sweater was quite the opposite knit compared to my last knit, the Sandbox Cardi.  For this project I used the Confection Baby Shrug pattern by Tonya Wagner in size 18 months found via Ravelry.  I knit the sweater in the round using Berroco Blackstone Tweed in the color, ancient mariner — which is a heather brown with lovely, lovely hints of purple and olive green.  The Sandbox Cardi demonstrates my love for bold + folksy; and the Confection Baby Shrug, my love for earthy and all-natural.  My heart tends to be swayed either this way or that.

This shrug was my first project involving knitting eyelets at the cuff — co cute.  I also love that this sweater is so thin and airy.  The yarn literally broke apart in my hands if I wasn’t gentle enough with it.  That’s the only drawback to this yarn — it’s delicacy. However, once you have a completed project, it really looks and feels beautiful.  It folds up so nicely too!  Oh, one thing I realized I don’t like doing is picking up stitches!  My stitches were so tight that I had to incorporate 3 double pointed needles to finish off the rib around the edge of the sweater.

The sweater is a little loose on Dhara (12 months) — she wore it to church on Sunday — I think this is due to the combination of thin yarn and size 9 needles.  It should fit her better in the spring.  One thing is for sure, babies won’t be able to take this sweater off due to the way it sits right on the shoulders.  It’s a great shrug to match up with a peasant top + jeans or a simple spring dress.  Maybe I should knit one up for myself?