I have about a zillion other things I should be doing and there have been lots of fun things going on in our various kingdoms, so I think it is time for a post about The Sweater I knit for Brian. Please note, this garment isn't a regular sweater, it is a Sweater. In fact, it is THE Sweater. V important!
Well, I promised Prince Brian a sweater for our first anniversary (the
pattern was on paper, so that counts) and bought yarn for it only a few days after we'd arrived in Melbourne! Ah yes, it seemed as if my fingers were itching to knit the sweater, but then I started working on the cabled lower band. That was very complicated!
Anyway, the yarn went into my stash until just before our second anniversary, when I realized how rotten I'd been! I pulled out the cabled band and tried to settle my differences with it. Turns out I'd been misreading the pattern! Oops! I figured that out just before Prince Brian and I went on an anniversary ski trip to Lake Mountain. When we weren't skiing, I was huddled under the covers for warmth and knitting frantically:
I know it looks like I'm sick in bed, but actually it was just really cold in our little cabin!
With the cabled band done, I could start with the "real" knitting, which was just lots (and I mean LOTS) of boring back and forth knitting. Luckily, the Olympics had just started, and I could knit while watching volleyball and swimming and what not, so it didn't seem so bad.
As with every sweater, The Sweater only got super annoying when I was doing the sleeves. Who knew I married a man with abnormally long arms? And THEN when I was done with one, I had to do a whole new one! Luckily, by this point, I was watching lots of Buffy to make the hours (and hours, and hours) of knitting fly by.
The really challenging part for me came when I had to attach the sleeves to the body. I had to spend about a week just thinking about how I'd do it, and then I had to consult Princess Kate. As usual, Princess Kate was able to decipher everything and make it much more understandable!
At long last, I had finished the bulk of the knitting and moved on to weaving in the ends. It is a pretty big sweater, so it had a lot of loose ends to weave in. Boring! I actually neglected The Sweater for a few weeks while I avoided the ends, but eventually sat down, wove them in, and even blocked it!
Finally, The Sweater traveled with me to Princess Kate's castle where I carefully pinned it (again and again...and then again. Thank goodness for Princess Kate, or the zipper would have been upside down!)
See how happy I look in this picture? That's because this was only the first time I was pinning it. I then screwed up ANOTHER time! Third time's the charm!
Following the pinning fiasco, I had to face one of my biggest fears: a sewing machine! Eek! It is so fast, and efficient, and full of needles! I took a page from my aunt's book in dealing with the sewing machine. My aunt believes that if you scream really loudly while you jump into a pool (or, more often, a lake) for a swim, it makes cold water easier to deal with. Ergo, I figured if I just said "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" the whole time I used the sewing machine, it would make things easier. I'm sure every princess loved that! ;)
See how I'm not actually using the sewing machine in this picture? That is because I am in the other room breathing into a paper bag to prepare myself.
However, much screaming later, The Sweater was finished! Prince Brian even came in to P. Kate's castle to wait for its completion and to model the final product!
Here I am making some quick finishing touches. I'm also sternly lecturing Prince Brian about how I will have my guards throw him in the dungeon, or tie him to the rack, or torture him in other ways if he ever puts The Sweater in the drier. Off with his head!:)
And here we are--Prince Brian obviously happy his Sweater is finally finished (just in time for Australian summer!) and I am clearly thrilled that I don't have to work on it anymore. Yay! I'm actually really proud of The Sweater, because it came out really well. We'll be going back to the states in less than a week and I'm looking forward to Brian acting as kind of a billboard for my knitting prowess. Considering as the first knitted thing I made was a relatively (ok, REALLY) ugly scarf for his sister's Christmas present, I'm glad that I have something a little more presentable to show off this year. Here endeth The Sweater's epic tale. Who knows what adventures are in store for it in the future?
