In Which the Pirate Completes A Sweater!

Friday afternoon I finished the sweater and ran over to Capital Yarns to get some buttons, which Pirate-Husband sewed on. This way the gift is from both of us. Here we see the Shapeless Amoeba just after being cast off. I compared it to the picture in the pattern. Yup, shapeless. Match A to A.. B to B.. Hm, that still doesn’t look like a sweater. How does this thing work? Well, if I can’t get it folded up, she can use it as a blanket, right? Right? …no, let’s try the origami again.

It took me a few tries to figure out how the Amoeba was supposed to fold up into a sweater, but once it clicked, I was amazed. This is an awesome pattern! I seamed up the shoulders without too much effort, wove in the ends, and voila! Pirate-Husband was a little concerned about the buttons being a choking hazard for the baby, so I offered him the opportunity to sew them on. (Actually, I said “Hey, honey, would you mind sewing on these buttons?” and he said “Sure! Get me a needle and thread, and I’d be happy to!” What a guy, what a guy.)

This may sound funny, but Pirate-Husband – despite his manly motorcycle – is actually quite talented with needle and thread. He’s done some incredible beadwork, he makes tassels for bellydance belts, and lately he’s been asking me to show him the trick of blackwork embroidery. A true renaissance man indeed! I even found matching pink thread for him to use.

The mother-to-be absolutely loved the sweater. She unfolded one layer of tissue paper, then the next. “No WAY!” she exclaimed, and tore through the rest of the tissue paper. “Oh my goodness, this is amazing! Oh, wow!” I also gave her a bottle of Eucalan, apologized that I’d not used superwash yarn, and was assured that “home-made trumps handwash.”

And I just found out that another friend is pregnant, due in about six months. She won’t be finding out the sex of the baby, so I’m on the hunt for quick, easy, gender-neutral patterns in a 0-3 month size. I’m thinking I might knit up a bunch of little booties and a matching hat, all in sock yarn.