30 (or so) years after the first try....

When my nephew Mike was small I made him a polar bear cardigan from one of the old Nomis pattern books.   Mike, and his parents, really loved the sweater.  When Mike grew out of the sweater, the sweater was given to another child who could wear it.   This made me very happy.

30 or so years later, it was time to knit this again.  Henry, my sister's grand nephew, loves polar bears.  Last summer I bought the yarn and put it away.  A few months ago, I pulled everything together and swatched.  After a couple of tries to get a firm fabric that was not so firm as to stand up

Round 2 of Sleeve 1

on its own, I began.

For my last few stranded knit projects, I had practiced knitting with both yarns in my left hand.  I started a sleeve and tried that out.  When the sleeve was done, I was very displeased.  RIP!  For round two, I used both hands and was much happier with the result.

Merrily, I started the second sleeve.   The chart for the polar bear on the second sleeve has to be reversed.  Is this actually charted out?   No.  One has to do this in one's mind.

Flipping the chart was a humbling process.  I spent a day and a half trying, ripping, and retrying before I had it.  Lesson to self:   create a chart that can be read easily. The point is to enjoy the process.   By the last few tries, I was definitely not enjoying it.

This was a good practice peace for stranded knitting.  As a small person will be wearing it, I wanted to be very mindful of the floats.  Small fingers catch more easily.  I want this to be a sweater that Henry enjoys wearing rather than one that is a trial to put on.

As I was progressing with the sweater, I kept thinking of Mrs. Gaspar.   Mrs. Gaspar was my 4-H sewing leader.   She was lovely and very patient with us.   One of the lessons she drilled into us was that the inside of your work should be as tidy as the outside.  Her daughters, who were also lovely

Inside the sweater back in progress...

people, talked about this too.  I think about this when I need and try to achieve that goal.

The back completed...

My goal on this project, as I said, is to make the floats short enough so that little fingers don't get caught.  On this part, I did well.   The polar bear section was a little more challenging. 

Normally, I knit the button bands right on to the sweater.  I have done this successfully for a 

loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time.  This sweater was simply not having it.   I fell back on the original directions and knit the bands separately.  It did work well and was not too tedious on a child's sweater.  The bonus was finding the buttons for this in my stash.

Waiting for button bands.....

 While I am very glad to see the end of this sweater....I am eager to practice this technique more.   There are hats that need to be knit.....

And...done!

 Using the needles that work the best...for you...is important.  I did the smaller pieces on straight Karbonz from Knitter's Pride.  That was ...okay.   I did the back on a circular need from a set made by Lykke.  Wow!   Next time I will do the whole project on circular needles.   Experimenting is ALWAYS good...I learn about how my knitting style is evolving...and what feels best on my hands for marathon knitting sessions.  My preferences.....wood or Karbonz.   Metal needles are okay...but not as comfortable for me.  The square needles that a lot of people love, cut off circulation in my hands.   I was given a set of wooden square needles after my initial failure with a metal set.  I may revisit the squares.  In the meantime, I use what feels good.