PROUD DAUGHTER

Jasmine asked if she could wear it to school as soon as it was finished. Fortunately it just fits her! I deliberately chose a unisex design so it can be passed down through the ranks. I couldn't have persevered if I was knitting something that wasn't going to be worn or used, it's the whole point. My Mam spent most of her life knitting, and I think I'm just carrying on the tradition. She did try teaching me to knit once, but gave up saying that I'd never have the required patience. Personally, I think that was a coverup for the fact that she didn't have the patience to teach me!

FIRST COMPLETED KNIT

This is my first completed project, and not without its problems. The pattern was rubbish - misleading in places, sections missing, and parts that made no sense whatsoever, and this from a magazine which states that a complete beginner should be able to use the free circular needle and get started with no prior knowledge. I'm just lucky that I have a wife with a degree in knitwear technology who was able to help me improvise around the inadequacies of the pattern and somehow get the thing completed! It should have had a hoodie-style pocket on the front, which I knitted up in accordance with the pattern, but it soon became apparent that it was way too small for even the tiniest pair of hands, so I unwound and started again minus the pocket. According to the measurements I was following the pattern for a 2 year old, even though I was knitting for my 7 year old. Where the neckhole splits, there was only pattern for one side, had to make up the other side as I went along.
The hood doesn't fit - probably as a 7 year old's head is bigger than that of a 2 year old. I knitted up the optional sleeves only to find they didn't fit the armholes, and by this time I was ready to build a funeral pyre in the back garden, on which to throw the knitting and the magazine.
However, with my wife's help we got it finished, minus pocket and sleeves, and I am not disheartened. It was a good steep learning curve, and as a friend has just had a new baby I'm going straight into my second project...