A Miracle

On Wednesday, December 15th a miracle happened in my house.

I finished the Wicked sweater.

This sweater is a gift for my sister, for her birthday in May.  Yes, May of 2010.  If you remember I started a sweater for my sister for the Knitting Olympics, and failed.  I then tried again with a different pattern, same yarn, and failed again.

I picked the sweater back up again in July....and failed again.  By then I was using the Wicked pattern and new yarn, Dream in Color Smooshy.  I struggled greatly with this last attempt.  To be honest, the pattern is horrible and it disappoints me that I paid money for this pattern.  The cast on number is incorrect, the pocket is a disaster and the long sleeve option is ridiculous.  There were times when the sweater sat many weeks untouched because it was such a disappointment.  I didn't blog about it because it didn't see worth in complaining, in sharing my frustration.

My knitting time has been limited as of late but I promised myself that I would get this sweater finished for my sister so she could have her birthday gift by Christmas so I powered through.  I redesigned the pocket. I figured out how to knit the sleeves so they were sleeve shaped.  I ripped out the bottom and knit it longer.

The pain of this sweater is finally over.  And despite the hardships with it I am proud of this finished sweater.  The yarn was a dream - the color so fantastic and when I washed it the yarn bloomed and became even softer.  I love the purple yarn of doom but the Smooshy worked out like a dream.  The modifications that I made to the pattern made it even more personal of a gift and gave me a sense of satisfaction that I could work through the bad and make a beautiful sweater.

It may be a while before I knit an adult sized sweater again however I know this sweater will be well loved and worn by a very happy sister of mine!