An Unfinished Sweater

Last week, just days before Christmas, I decided I was going to knit Owen a sweater to wear for our family Christmas Eve celebrations. It's not like I didn't have a million other things I needed to do, and it's not like I'd ever successfully made him a sweater (I hadn't), but it was my MISSION.

I grabbed some stash Wool Ease, and printed out the Owlet sweater pattern (the same sweater I knit for Lou this fall), figured out the sizing, and promptly cast on.

Owen is a super skinny kid for a three and a half year old, so I knew I'd have to do some adjusting. There's no "just follow the pattern" for this kid! I cast on for the 18-24 month old size, as that's how skinny he is, and then figured out how long I'd have to knit the body before I worked the arms.

When I managed to get the body done that first night, with a bit of time to spare, I got a bit cocky. I should have checked myself, knowing just how far askew last-minute knitting projects can get, but I forged on undeterred, sharing my progress to Instagram as I went. I stayed up late into the night working on the sleeves, intending to get both done but only managing one off the needles before my eyes got too tired  to stay open and I headed to bed.

The next day, however, things started to go off the rails. While in theory, making a small arm and then doing the yoke of a sweater isn't much to worry about, and could have been easy to finish, it was now Christmas Eve. And we were heading out the door around 5pm, which gave me just the daytime hours, when kids were awake, to finish a sleeve and yoke. Undeterred, I pulled out my yarn and thought seriously hard about getting busy.

And then Lou started to feel icky. Not feverish (yet), and not throwing up, but that about to get sick baby clingyness that you know is the first sign of the impending apocalypse. In less than two seconds, I made my decision. I set the sweater pieces aside and snuggled my baby. Through a few last minute errands, tubs for all, a long car ride and then a fun time with family, I snuggled my baby.

I thought maybe I could get the sweater done later that night, ready for Christmas wearing. And then Lou didn't sleep. And the sweater stayed un-knit. All weekend, through sleepless nights and clingy days, I thought "I'll have it ready for tomorrow". And then on Sunday we finally broke down and took Lou to the doctor, knowing already what was going on.

Ear infection. Just like her brother, Lou shows absolutely no signs of ear infection other than not sleeping. No fever, no drippy ears, no struggles with eating, no tugging on the affected ear. Nothing. Just a total lack of sleep.

The sweater pieces have been unwound. With a sick baby and an overly rambunctious pre-schooler running around, the sweater just won't get done. This is why I'm a hat person - no pieces to put together, not as much time commitment, and portable. Also, I have a few hat patterns memorized, so there's no trying to find and figure out a pattern late at night.

An unfinished sweater, and no regrets. It was fun to try, and even more fun to undo the sweater pieces and wind them into balls, ready to be used for hats in 2015!