My first cable sweater

I knitted this sweater 2 years ago and gave it to my friend's son as a christmas present. At the time he was 2 and the sweater was way too big for him - but now, finally, it fits and she sent me a few pictures of him wearing it. I'm so glad that he wears it - I was afraid that it would be too scratchy - or that the seams would be wonky and uncomfortable.

The Unfinished Sweater

Last year I had the great Idea that I would make my mom a sweater for her birthday (it's in March) - I knew that she wanted an aran style cardigan so, I found a fancy pancy pattern and got started.

Everything was going fine (well, kinda fine, I did have to rip out a bunch of rows on the back due to a mix up of rows) until I got to the sleeves. I've always been told, and regularly do, stitch both arms at the same time to ensure uniformity. Well - these arms were very heavy and I decided to risk it and do one at a time - OF COURSE they didn't match - and OF COURSE this didn't become evident until the 2nd one was nearly finished - SO, I burned out - I put it down and I haven't picked it up since. In fact it turned me off of knitting for quite a while.

Now I'm feeling a little guilty - like I guess i should just start over with the sleeves - and maybe I will - it just seemed so daunting, just a little while ago.

I pulled it out of the "bag" this weekend - here's a picture of the back - it really is lovely....

The Family Aran

I found this on a clanaran.com - a website that has the different arans of the Irish clans (or what they claim to be) - Now I know that my grandfather would bristle at the mere mention of the emerald isle - but I think it's pretty cool. The website sells sweaters and kits - but I'm going to (along with, hopefully, some help from my aunts) try and recreate the pattern. it's, basically, a trellis flanked by cables and what they called "blackberries" -