Sweater #1

Sweater #1 of 12 for my "Knit 12 in 2012" plan is done.

Sweet Peasy, by Heidi Kirrmaier, is a dear little cardigan for children. Sweet Peasy is the offspring of Heidi's popular adult pattern, Peasy.

I knit Emma's Sweet Peasy with yarn my mother gave me, Aimee by Louisa Harding (in the Sea Grass colorway). She intended for me to make my daughter the Little Girl's Shrug, but that pattern calls for a light worsted weight yarn, and this yarn is a sport weight yarn. Luckily, I found some small shell buttons in my button stash that seem to work well with the yarn. The sweater is so soft, due to the 90% cotton and 10% cashmere blend in Aimee. I'm hoping it wears well, but I have the feeling that this sweater might take a beating.

I love how the Emma's spring cardigan turned out, but I had quite a few problems with the way the pattern was written. Now I should remind you that I have serious preggo-brain, so it is quite possible that all of my little issues were the result of my current condition. That being said, here are some wonderful features and less-than wonderful features I came across while knitting this pattern:

Wonderful!!!
1. The end result of this cardigan is truly sweet and looks one-of-a-kind on her. It is her perfect spring cardigan!
2. It includes total number of stitches throughout the pattern- a major plus! This really helps keep a knitter right on track while working on a garment.
3. I liked the detailed measurements (in centimeters). There are some gifted designers who create beautiful garment patterns and still don't provide any measurements beyond the chest size. So, kudos to Heidi!
4. It is top-down. Love, love, love top-down knitting.
5. The designer also provides some options throughout the pattern with corresponding directions. You can knit a button-hole front edge or choose to make a ribbon or snaps front edge. Also, she has directions to knit the sleeves straight or in the round. Very nice touch.

Less-than wonderful.
1. I found the pattern to be a bit jumpy.
2. The row counting doesn't quite add up. So I had to fudge things a bit. When working on the raglan increases and the lace pattern, some information seems off. The "4th row" is not actually the 4th row of the pattern, but the 1st. It's the kind of issue that is easy to identify while knitting and correct/pay attention to, but a nuisance none the less.
3. Although the total number of stitches is provided, I wish it were provided more frequently. That is just a personal preference of mine and not really anything I should complain about.
4. Another preference issue: Although the designer explains how often to pick up stitches for the front edge, I'd prefer just a total number of stitches listed. However, based on her directions, you can do the math and figure that out. So for anyone making the 3-4 size sweater, pick up 48 stitches.

All that being said, I would make this pattern again. And I would definitely order more patterns from this designer. She is clearly very talented and I love her style.