the knit parade - snuggly snug

pattern: Snug
designer: hinke
yarn: Quince & Co. Osprey in Chanterelle
needles: Addi Turbo 32 inch circs in US size 10.5
modifications: knit at a larger gauge and some quick, basic math (see last paragraph for the whole shebang)

This is truly the quickest, easiest, yet one of the most clever patterns I have knit to date. I love the design - there's some neat construction in there. And the instructions are so clear and concise! Love it! Because the kiddo was almost nine months when I finally got around to casting on for this, I had to make a few mods since the pattern is sized for a newborn - 6 month old. I went up a few needle sizes, used a heavier yarn, and tweaked the numbers ever so slightly (more on the numbers further below). The resulting sweater is a little big on him right now, but it will probably last him through next winter. The funny thing is that when I finished knitting the sweater about a week after I cast on, it fit him just right. The sleeves were a little long, but they were meant to be worn rolled up anyway. When I blocked it about a month later, the sweater really grew a few sizes. All the glorious garter stitch stretched like crazy adding a couple of inches here and a couple of inches there. Not a bad thing considering that I was worried that it might just fit him as I had let it languish for a month (maybe just a little more). The kiddo is swimming in it, but the effect is kind of adorable.

Lazy-ass knitter that I am, I let it hang around for yet another couple of weeks awaiting buttons. I even went and found the perfect buttons for it. See?

I am so not a fan of these little finishing details. Projects amass in a huge pile o' knit stuff before I suck it up and get on with the weaving in of ends and button-attaching and seam-sewing and crap like that. I try to be good about it, but really, I am just the worst. I even outsourced some seam-sewing to Stacie once while hanging out with her because I flaked on myself. That's right. I flaked on myself. I had been meaning to seam those dang arms for over a month, but by that point I knew it just wasn't going to happen because I couldn't seem to get it done.

So yeah, it's a good thing that this little sweater grew. Good on that garter stitch, and good on that wonderful yarn. Quince & Co.'s Osprey is just the squishiest, loveliest stuff to knit with. It's so perfect for snuggly baby sweaters. I love squeezing the dense fabric the Osprey + garter combo created. Even better when it's on the kiddo. So much squishy goodness going on there!

As for those mods, I just increased stitches accordingly in increments of four. For example, I cast on 40 instead of 32 (8 stitches increased). Where it says knit 20, I knit 24. I put 16 stitches on scrap yarn instead of 12. When picking up for the front flaps & hood, I picked up 40 from each side and 60 from the back for a total of 140 working stitches. I kinda winged the measurements. Instead of knitting 2 inches in garter at the beginning there, I knit 3 inches. I made the sleeves 8 inches long instead of 6 inches. It was all pretty basic and intuitive stuff. It worked! Hooray! One more sweater for the kiddo!