FO: EZ baby sweater on two needles

What a darling sweater. I've been hearing about this Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater for some time. In my mind it resides up on a pedastal with her other popular patterns: the baby surpirse jacket, the tomten and her EPS system for perfectly-fitting swaters.

This was my first attempt at a EZ pattern and I really liked it. The directions are short and spare. The whole sweater pattern is sketched out in just two paragraphs. What I loved is that it let my knitting skills shine. I read the pattern and understood exactly how the whole thing was going to go together. I had all the necessary skills to knit this up. It was sort of like a mini knitting quiz. And I passed.

My only complaint about this little sweater stems from my own (mis-)caluculations and worries about fit. I had read some comments on ravelry that the arms seemed to run a bit narrow, so I decided to compensate for this by going up a needle size for the body and arms of the sweater. This did result in a roomier sweater, but unfortunately the sleeves are bell-shaped. It still looks cute, almost like the sweater was designed that way, but when I knit it again - and I will! - I will stick to one needle size for the whole garment.

The other modification was that I omitted the gull lace pattern that is supposed to be on the body and arms of the sweater. Since I'm not sure if this little one is going to a yet-to-be born boy or girl I thought this would be a nice compromise. I love the look and color and think it will suit either nicely. The buttons are hand-carved coconut and sewn on with matching thread.

The yarn is a warm and cuddly alpaca that I received from a swap last year. And believe it or not I knit up this sweater with about 10 inches of yarn to spare. I have to say that I am loving my stash-busting efforts. It is a bit more work. Ok, it's a lot more work. I used to see a pattern I loved and wander (run) down to my LYS and get what I needed to knit up my project. Now I am resolved to working from what I have. I need to consider my fiber, yardage and color first - then hunt down patterns that will work with what I've got. I've been doing pretty well so far and have another three projects lined up based on yarn I already have. I may just make it through this year without any new yarn purchases afterall!!