Why I Don't Do Sweaters

This picture shows the last sweater I ever knit. I made it when Jennie -- the mom in the pictures -- was in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Lala, the one wearing it, is now in the 3rd grade.

Yes, it took three years to make the sweater. I'm fortunate it only took that long. If we had not had unusual circumstances that year, it might have taken longer. I finished the sweater in the spring of 1990. George and our son Joe were still in Arizona selling the house there, and Jennie and I were living in an apartment in Texas where we were camping until the family could get back together. It was the only time my job caused us to move instead of George's job. Let me tell you, having Dad tying up the loose ends and finishing the move was far more difficult than all the times the kids and I followed him! (But that's another story...)

Jen and I were living in an apartment complex that had a swimming pool. She was a fish and loved to swim. I was an overweight whale embarrassed to be seen in a swimsuit. We compromised. Every evening after work, she got to swim and I sat by the pool knitting.

It was a restful ritual. I enjoyed watching her have a good time and the sweater grew under my fingertips. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn just as I was ready to finish the turtle neck. Motts was our only source of yarn, so I didn't have much to choose from. I found an ecru that almost matched. It was scratchy and I was never happy with it, but I finished the sweater.

Jen wore it until she could not longer get it over her head. Then the sweater got stored in a box and forgotten.

When we moved to Kansas, I found the sweater. Jen now had a daughter who was in grade school. Hm... I wonder...


Before I cleaned the sweater and gave it to Lala, I decided to fix that turtle neck I never liked. This time I had better yarn stores available. I found a yarn that could pass for the original. I frogged the old collar and knit a new one.

It may even be worth taking three years to knit a sweater.

Now this Aran biking sweater is a family heirloom. The next generation can wear it -- and maybe pass it along to her daughter when she enters the 3rd grade. As for me, I'm going to stick to smaller projects. Like socks. I'm really enjoying socks. At the most 2 skeins of yarn and I can get them done in a fraction of the time that sweater took!