My Greatest Mistake of 2010

I bought the yarn for my niece's and nephew's Necco Wafer Hoodies in August when my mom was up to visit. I love planning projects with her so even though I hadn't planned on casting on until after Rhinebeck it was a no brainer.

I did a swatch right away to make sure the yarn would work. The original is in Cotton Classic but I wanted something easier to wash and dry without the hassle of adjusting for shrinkage while knitting combined with the anxiety of "did I allow for enough shrinkage?" Kids grow out of handknits quickly enough without the added challenge of a shrinking garment.

Comfort DK was an easy choice - huge color palette in a machine wash and dry yarn. And it's really soft. I read reviews and they were positive so I went with it. I didn't want to do matchy matchy so I picked colors that suits each of them.

nephew's on the left, niece's on the right
I love how they share 3 colors each but the result will be unique for each of them

And then the bag sat, untouched, for three months. I finally cast on in mid-November.

I started with my niece's hoodie - it's smaller and I thought I'd bang that out more quickly. Ha! Then I thought I'd get hers done over Christmas vaca. Double ha!

When writing up my goals for January I realized the clock is ticking. These kids are not getting any smaller so I needed to get moving pronto. I've been working on my niece's and finished the body this weekend. The whole time I kept thinking to myself "Why didn't I just do the next size up so she could get a second season out of it?" But I had most of the body done and the thought of ripping it all out was just not enticing.

I measured once more after it was off the needles and wouldn't you know it - my gauge had loosened up a bit while knitting it. The body is almost 2" wider than it should be for her "intended" size! She'll be able to get a second season out of it! This is particularly good news since they live in Dallas and have a much shorter winter season.

on a side note - does anyone know why my recent pics are so overexposed? i'm sure i did something unintentionally but i don't know what!

Discovering my gauge "mistake" has invigorated me with these projects. I still have one small issue with my niece's - the bottom garter edge rolls up. I'm thinking this is probably a result of the yarn substitution. I'm going to add a bit more to the bottom hem but not sure what exactly I'll do - pickup and knit garter for a few more rounds? Crochet makes a nice, firm edge but I don't think that's the aesthetic I'm going for. Any other ideas?