Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Six Birthday Sweaters

Last year, before turning the significant five years old, Maggie got to choose the pattern and yarn for her birthday sweater. This year, I had the opportunity to take her to a yarn store to pick out her yarn, but I knew we needed to pick out the pattern first. I had about seven different patterns that I couldn't narrow down. I showed them to Mom, who said that was way too many patterns to offer. I asked her which ones I should take out, and she couldn't decide, so I showed all seven to Maggie. After briefly showing and explaining each pattern, Maggie chose her pattern with no hesitation. "The cable one." I asked her if there was a reason for her choice, and she told me her Gigi (her grandma in Washington) had a cable sweater, and she wanted one like that.



The pattern is Down Under from
The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids.

Then it was off to Calla Lily Yarn & Gifts in Wooster, where, aided by the lovely Donna...

We promptly found every pink yarn in the building. We narrowed the selection by the important washability factor, and ended up with Cascade Cotton Club (a cotton & acrylic blend, very squooshy) as the main yarn, and Cascade Pearls for accents around the hem and cuffs.



I think it turned out pretty well.

My sister-in-law told me that when presents were about to be opened, Maggie shook each one because she wanted to open her sweater first! I'm so excited that she enjoys picking out her patterns and yarns, because that means she's invested in the process and can be proud of her decisions. There aren't any pictures of her wearing it yet (it's still too warm out for sweaters, of course!), but I hear it fits well with room for growing, which is definitely good news.


Happy Birthday, Maggie.. can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving!

12 comments:

Joy said...

Yikes! I was worried that you had been gone from the blog so long because you were knitting six sweaters!

tricksie, very tricksie.

Nicole said...

What a great way to get her involved in the knitting process at a young age!

Molly Bee said...

OMGosh Brook! That is gorgeous! I'm in a cabley mood myself these days but only have the attention span for hats! Your sweater is inspiring me though!

Kara said...

You are such a freaking awesome aunt.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's adorable. I want a sweater aunt!

Jennifer Lori said...

Beautiful sweater! I can't wait until my son is old enough to request his knits instead of getting them by my choice.

Chris Salley said...

will you be my aunt?

Anonymous said...

What a darling story. Thanks for sharing. Maggie is a very lucky girl!!

P.S. The sweater is gorgeous!!

~RaenWa~ said...

That sweater is beautiful & its going to look great on Maggie its great that you let her choose the pattern & yarn.

Anonymous said...

Little redheads and pink sweaters go go well together! It's wonderful to see how she appreciates your work.

Anonymous said...

I meant to say go *so* well, not go go well, lol

Robin said...

The sweater is beautiful!! Maggie looks tickled PINK! When are you going to teach her how to knit??