My Fair Baby

Fair Isle Border Cardigan by Erika Knight

Ravelers can see Fair Isle (and hold me accountable to finish it!) here

It is a well-known fact, fully accepted in our house, that if you ask my daughter if she is your baby you will hear one response and one response only:  "I am not a baby.  I am a big girl."  Period.  There is no need for further discussion, because she's said what she had to say.  I am not a baby.  And no matter how much it breaks this mama's heart to hear it, I know very well that Annabelle means business.   Not one time has that child cried when I've left her in a nursery or preschool.  Not a tear, not a whimper.  Nothing.... nadda.

So I guess that means that I'm going to have to start thinking about some big girl knits to go along with that big girl attitude she's been wielding for some time now.  And since my yarn has come in for Andy's Cobblestone, I decided that first, I would knit a test sweater.  Well, not so much a test sweater as a small  sweater. A if I screw this up thankfully there aren't 100,000 stockinette to tink sweater.  So I pulled from my small knitting library and found one of my favorite books, Simple Knits for Little Cherubs by Erika Knight.  There are so many adorable sweaters in this book, but I decided on the Fair Isle Border Cardigan, mainly because it combined several things I adore, fair isle colorwork, natural yarns, and vintage simplicity.   Just like in my home, I love to mix textures in my knitting.  And I absolutely love vintage anything!  So this seemed the appropriate choice for that big girl of mine.

I just started the sweater a couple days ago and I'm pleased with my progress thus far.  I'm using simple, widely accessible yarns for this project:  Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool (I absolutely love its natural feel and texture, having not been dyed and with the wool's natural lanolin), and Cascade 220 for all the colorwork.   I'm even being thrifty by using stash yarn for the colorwork!   I'm also making the sweater a bit large for Lulu, so hopefully she can get at least a couple years wear out of it. 
So if all goes well with Annabelle's cardigan I will be ready to begin Andy's sweater.  It's really a watershed moment for me.  Quite frankly I'm terrified of messing something up on that large a scale!  But for now, I'm going to take my time and enjoy knitting this little fair isle cardigan for my not-so-little-I'm-a-big-girl baby.  (I didn't say it!  And thankfully she can't read, yet!)


----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Leslie  DATE: 02/15/2008 08:48:28 AM That's looking great! I love the colors you're using.
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jennifer in KS  DATE: 02/15/2008 11:23:03 AM I've never tried Fair Isle, Jennifer, but I'm more than halfway through my husband's Cobblestone. I'm about ready to decrease toward the neck. So far, so good. So, if I can do it, I have all confidence in you.
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jennifer  DATE: 02/16/2008 08:25:59 AM Jennifer! It was so good to officially meet you yesterday. You're Cobblestone is looking fantastic! Thanks Leslie, hopefully I won't be burning the road too much from my outbox to yours in trying to knit this thing! :-S
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Myriam  DATE: 02/16/2008 02:49:06 PM sweater looks great :) My little guy is a big boy too and just want to get bigger and bigger-he can't wait to be big like daddy. january he alrady wanted to know when he was turning 4 this year cause then he would be even bigger-Sigh so hard for a momma :)
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shannon  DATE: 02/18/2008 05:05:58 PM Your knitting is absolutely amazing. You have a true talent. I am very envious. ;) Shannon