Maternity Sweater

My big winter knitting project is done!  After multiple years of infertility, we are expecting a baby at the end of May, and one of the first things I did after my first ultrasound in October was to buy yarn to knit myself a maternity sweater.  It took me a while to get started, because I was worried about how my pregnancy might turn out, and then I got distracted by Christmas projects, but I finally finished the sweater a few weeks ago.  In these pictures, I'm 34 weeks pregnant.

The sweater has button plackets on the sides and sleeve cuffs.  I added a fifth button to each side, because odd numbers are more visually pleasing, and I was worried that the button plackets wouldn't come up high enough on my belly for them to really be functional - they're designed to be worn open at the end of pregnancy, to create more room for the belly.

At least so far, I prefer the sweater buttoned all the way down.  And, I really like the buttons I found.  It wasn't easy to find 16 matching buttons!  I think the brass-colored roses give it a nice, slightly dressier touch, and they're really cute.

The sweater is knit in 2x2 rib, and it's super stretchy.  It's really warm and comfortable!

Luckily (I guess?) we've been having a late, cold spring this year, so even though it took me so long to finish my heavy wool sweater, I can still wear it a bunch before the baby is born.

Pattern:  Mommy Snug by Kate Gilbert
Size: 20.5" bust circumference, to fit 39.5" bust
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers, color 8011 (an oatmeal grey), 6.5 skeins
Needles: 4mm
Started/Completed: October 2017/April 2018
Modifications: I added a 5th button to each of the side plackets, which made the plackets taller (but I kept the number of rows in the sweater below the short-row belly shaping the same as called for in the pattern).  I worked a second set of belly short rows - in hindsight, this really wasn't necessary and the short rows are a little high on my anyway, but the sweater fits fine and is comfortable.  I knitted the sleeves in the round (from the end of the button plackets) and lengthened them significantly.  Instead of working a hemmed neck edging, I followed a project I saw on Ravelry and worked an i-cord neck edging.  

Handmade Christmas 2017

Wow, this post is late!  I didn't plan to make very many Christmas gifts, but somehow I ended up making a bunch anyway.  This quilt was for my Grandma, and it was a team effort with my mom.  We had given Grandma the fabric and pattern for Christmas two or three years ago, but we came to the conclusion that she was never going to sew it, so we decided to do it for her.  It was relatively quick (two weekends), and fun to do together!  It came out great, and Grandma loves it.

I've done Christmas sweaters for my niece and nephew every year so far (although last year I made a flannel shirt for my nephew instead of a sweater), and I kind of thought last year was going to be the last year - they're getting big, and the sweaters are getting to be more of a production.  But then I hit on the idea of a ballet wrap sweater for my dance-obsessed niece, and I couldn't not do one more year.

I used free patterns and used worsted weight superwash wool from Valley Yarns (the Webs house brand).  They were fun to knit, and apparently were a hit with the kids.

Earlier in the Fall, I knit a pair of socks for Robert for Christmas.  He loves them, but has dubbed them "the betrayal socks," because I knit them right in front of him without telling him they were for him.  He assumed they were for me, and was surprised that I was knitting myself socks in a blue tweedy yarn.  He tells me that he resisted the urge to ask if he could have them - he did it so well that I hesitated a bit to wrap them up for Christmas, because I wasn't sure if he liked them!

And lastly, I made a few Christmas-y kitchen things for us.  I took two fat quarters of Christmas-y fabric I bought for this purpose in Fall 2016 and finally made a set of four holiday napkins for our dining table.  I also knitted three Christmas dishcloths.  One of them made its way into my mom's stocking, and we kept the other two for ourselves.