FO: Christmas Ginny Sweater for Mom

This is my final project I knitted for Christmas 2016. It's been knitted since Christmas, but I didn't have pictures to blog because I was still searching for buttons. Now that it's finished, I can share it here - the biggest project I've ever made for someone else :)

Back in March of last year, I was shopping in Michael's and discovered they had all of their Issac Mizrahi Issac's Colorways Merino Blend yarn on clearance. They were half price, plus I had a coupon for another 20% off my whole purchase, including clearance and sale. That was pretty epic, and it doesn't come around often, fyi. The yarn was being discontinued, and at just $3.13 per skein (!) I knew it would be a great yarn to stash for sweaters. Some colors were down to just a few balls, but they happened to have a lot of their red colorway (called Betty) left when I came around. I decided then and there to knit my mom a sweater for Christmas, as her favorite color is bright red. I love knitting sweaters, but being a Florida resident my sweaters don't see a ton of wear. I've never made sweaters for other people because I am worried they will not appreciate and take care of them like they need. Sweaters are a lot of work! But if there is one person in this world who love and appreciates anything I make them, it's my mom :) She does so much for me, and this was a way that I could show what she means to me in gift form, and in a way that would be nice item that I could still afford.

I'm sure this looks a little familiar to those who've read my blog this past year - I made myself the Ginny's Cardigan by Mari Chiba in The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits magazine this time last year. If I was going to all the effort of knitting this sweater for someone else, I wanted it to at least be something she wold love, so I told her about it when I bought the yarn. She loved the color, so I started showing her designs that I had in my stash that would work with the yarn. We went through quite a few that she thought were pretty, but in the end she said she really liked my Ginny Cardigan. So I made one for her :) The real design feature of this sweater is undoubtedly the owl lace pattern on the back. This is the first time I've ever made a sweater pattern twice, and the nicest part after knowing exactly how the sweater will fit is that I already knew the lace pattern. Woo hoo!

This sweater fits me ok, but my mom is taller and bustier than I am, so it doesn't fit me exactly on purpose. My mom wanted this to be a sweater she could throw on indoors when she gets chilly at work, etc, so we wanted a slightly relaxed fit. The arms are a bit long on me, but they fit her well.

The big hang up with calling this "finished" was the button situation. Ever since my local Hancock Fabrics closed, I've had to drive almost an hour to Joann's and hope they have enough of the right type of buttons for any given project. I don't frequently make the Joann's pilgrimage, so this sat. Earlier this year, a Hobby Lobby opened only 15 minutes away from me, so I tend to swing by there on the regular, lol. I pass by it all the time in my commute to my house, so it's no big deal to swing in and buy 1 thing at 40% off and then leave, lol. I brought the sweater soon after they opened and found the perfect buttons. They were shiny, 7/8", smooth, and the exact color red for this yarn. It was fate. Plus they were 50% off that day. I bought 4 buttons because that was all they had, then I had to wait for them to restock, then I proceeded to go in and buy just 1 card of 2 buttons to get them for 40% off each time, lol. I figured my mom had waited this long already for the sweater to have buttons, and she agreed that she would like them better if they were all super cheap, lol. She is my mom, after all :) So over the course of a few weeks I accumulated the 9 buttons I needed to finish.

Isn't that lace just the greatest? I love that this is such a simple design with a pop of something interesting on the back. Plus this color really makes it eye catching. I need a sweater in this color for myself, lol.

Realistically this is how the sweater will be worn, and happily it drapes nicely.I was a little worried the buttons would be too heavy and pull that side down, but it looks just fine.

And here's the happy recipient :) This picture was taken on Christmas without the buttons.

And the ever lovely back :) So cool, right? I really love this design.

So there's another sweater for the books :) And my first sweater for someone else. Love you, mom! No one deserves a month of my knitting time like you do, lol. I hope she loves it for a good long time and it keeps her warm when she is chilly.

and THAT'S my last Christmas project, lol.