The American Girl Doll Sweater: Photo Time!

I am putting the final touches on the pattern making sure that it is as clear as possible and typo free. Mr. SockPixie is doing the editing for me and Miss SockPixie is re-reading it. Three pairs of eyes are always better than one!

For the time being, I want to share the pictures with you.

To model the sweaters, I chose Kit and Emily. Kit is wearing the coral red sweater knit with the KnitPicks Palette, and Emily is wearing the green sweater knit in the Jamieson's Spindrift.



I am, as you know, fond of buttons, and here they are glowing like little jewels on the clean folded buttonband.



The bottom edges are a simple rib.



The shoulders are attached with a 3 needle bind off, and the sleeves set in.



I am not promising the pattern will be ready tomorrow, but I am hoping... I can't wait to share this pattern with you!

Cute as a button!

The American Girl Doll sweaters are knit! I went and picked the buttons yesterday at Windsor Button in Boston.





I found exactly what I wanted, 1/4 inch buttons in colors matching the little sweaters: a soft green for the Jamieson's Sweater, and a coraly red for the Knitpicks sweater. I love the fact that the buttons are slightly iridescent. They look like little gems.

I don't know how you feel about it, but for me buttons are really important, they can make or break a sweater. Their color can sometimes play on the subtlety of the colors in the yarn, or highlight a delightful stitch. Buttons are just amazing!



I probably owe my fascination for buttons to my mother's button tin box. I am sure you mother had one too. As a child, I spent hours every Wednesday afternoon rummaging through the buttons, delighting at the sounds they would make as my hand dug deeper and deeper,and swooshed them to find the one perfect little treasure I had been dreaming of. I would categorize them, and engage in active trade with imaginary customers. I would spread my collection all over my mother's bed, even though I had been clearly told not to do so. But isn't your mother's bed the only place to sell buttons to imaginary customers? After hours of playing, and shortly before my mother's return, I would reluctantly put all the buttons back in the tin box. I would vaguely straighten the blankets to erase all traces of my activities.

I am sure my mother was never fooled, in particular when on Wednesday nights as she was getting into bed, she would find some forgotten buttons...

I have a button tin box of my own now, and little Miss SockPixie spends hours swooshing, digging, and trading...secretly of course...on my bed...

American Girl Doll Sweater

I will be writing a pattern for the American Girl Doll Sweater. When I knit the sweater, I used Jaeger's 4 Ply Matchmaker which is no longer available.

I have spent some time this morning doing research on the possible replacements. I want to knit the sweater over again, and make any necessary changes in the pattern to accommodate the new yarn.

Here are my choices so far. (Ignore the colors.) I hope you will give me some feedback and if you have a suggestion I would really appreciate it.

Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply:



PLUS: very close in terms of gauge, machine washable, good stitch definition
MINUS: Limited color choice

Rowan 4 ply Scottish Tweed:



PLUS: Great color choices, interesting texture (but will it be too much?)
MINUS: Hand wash


Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine:



PLUS: Machine washable, readily available, nice heathers
MINUS: A little finer gauge, will the fuzz hide the pattern?

Knitpicks Palette:



PLUS: Great Color choices, nice stitch definition, great price point
MINUS: a little too fine maybe, handwash

So what do you think?

Placitas Gloves

These are the Placitas Gloves and the pattern is at both Lulu and Ravelry. The pattern uses 7 colors of Knitpicks' Palette - white and six shades of blue. The gloves feature a sore thumb gusset and rounded, contrasting fingertips. The two-color design on the back of the hand is done in duplicate stitch.

Red River Gloves

My friend Joelle recently asked about the pair of gloves I made for her using the design from one of her Navajo rugs. I realized I had to hurry up and finish the second pair and write up the pattern. The Red River Gloves are made from 6 colors of Palette and have a sore thumb gusset, knitted hem, and rounded fingertips.





Now that I've taken some photos I can give the tan pair to her. Of course I kept the bright red pair for myself. Because I only have 450,977,090 pairs of handknit gloves for myself as it is.

Night Breeze Socks

I'm running behind this week but I've managed to finish one pair of socks. I call these floral socks the Night Breeze Socks after a variety of African Violet. I used Palette in Black, Lilac, and Grass and subsequently learned that Knitpicks' is apparently discontinuing both Lilac and Grass so those colors are now on clearance.

I am delaying Intarsia Week until next week. I plan to include lots of resources and links on the first day, how to do the interlocks (ie. twisting the yarns between colors) on the second day, and how to deal with all the yarn ends on the final day.

Also, I just cut a check to the Colorado House Rabbit Society for $292.78 from my first quarterly Lulu check. As with last year I will try to donate at least $1000 from pattern sales in 2008 to help with all the pet rabbits in their shelter.