Well, it seemed to take forever, especially at the end, but I’ve finished the sweater for my Goddaughter. And, just in time to give it to her this weekend! We’ll be seeing her and her parents for a special breakfast at Disney World so I can see if it fits her as well if she likes it. Surely, after all this effort she has got to like it!
Here it is in all it’s finished glory.
The front (forgive the adult size hanger, no small ones on hand):
A detail view of the front:
For the closures, I found some decorative coat hooks and loops at Joann’s while I was looking for grosgrain ribbon to finish the inside band. There is a hidden coat hook at the top neck to keep it looking tidy. The flowers are all attached individually – there are 18 of them – in clusters of three. The embroidery is simple chain stitch with the darker shade of wool that I split down to two ply.
A bit of explanation about that ribbon facing inside. Normally, the cut edges would have been fine the way they were. But, because I had used a thread color that stands out so it would show in the photographs and changed the band treatment from what I had planned, they were unattractive and really needed to be covered. While the ribbon isn’t my favorite thing to have in a sweater, it doesn’t give like knit fabric after all, it is better than the edge that was there and still suits the more coat-like nature of this sweater.
The back:
The little decorative belt is just single crochet with coordinating buttons sewn at either end.
Overall, I am pleased with how it turned out. The color scheme is as I had planned, feminine but not babyish and it has a nice overall decorative effect. Maybe, if I hadn’t already worked on the finishing for so long, I might have done a different type of embroidery on the fronts or, perhaps, more of that same theme. But, she is only two and will outgrow it if I don’t finish it!
Now, the knitting bug is backing off a bit . Embroidery has been calling my name lately! I’ve already started an old fashioned table runner using the very grannyish, but still attractive, Aunt Martha’s transfers and am checking out the Sublime Stitching patterns as well.