being a mom, my view

I was tagged by Meg over at Tea & Brie. This little meme started at Her Bad Mother, in a post called ‘The world according to Mom.’  To totally steal Meg’s words: “To make a long story short, she wrote out five reasons why she loves being a mom and then tagged five people to do the same.  Her goal is for this mommy meme to make it around the world in 80 clicks. I am sure she has reached her goal.”

Mommyhood has to be my best job, most challenging job, my hardest job.  We’re not raising children here, we are molding lil adults. Adults that will be able to take care of themselves, be apart of and contribute to society, be independent, loving, creative, basically know who they are as a person, and be themselves. Granted Labor Laws don’t seem to apply to this job. Doesn’t matter how many times you explain that there are labor laws in the US and for every 4 hours of work (or is it 6?) there is a mandatory 20 minute break and Mommy is, well on a damn break right now. There are no breaks, there is no second shift. There are no nanny’s in this house, its just Mommy. Mommy who gets up at 3 am blurry eyed to walk down the hall to the crying 2 year old who had in fact woke up, took off her jammies and for some unknown, ungodly, friggin reason took off her damn diaper *again* and is freaking cold, tired and cranky. Mommy who packs the lunches and puts in the favorite chips, a little treat and milk money, Mommy who provides the snack to the little league team, makes sure the hat, glove, water bottle, bat and batting helmet is ready for the game, Mommy who drives to band practice and has the clarinet and music ready to go, with a snack, a smile and grumbles though her teeth “get in the damn van” and screams during the ballgames “get your bloody mitt outta your mouth!!!!” to her center fielder and yells “great play!!!” for the whole game. Sure there are moments when I lock myself in the bathroom for 15 minutes to read a lil and regroup, (my employer doesn’t understand labor laws, I need to lawyer up!), or hide behind the island in the kitchen and eat some m&m’s so I dont’ have to share, there hasn’t been a day this month where I have fallen into bed with my bra still on, totally not giving a damn, exhausted not ready for tomorrow but on some level I’m fulfilled, happy with that warm fuzzy feeling in my heart because even though I would get a few toes for 20 minutes of quiet where I don’t have to clean up the aftermath I wouldn’t give up this job. Oh, hell no.

So, here it goes – 5 reasons why I love being a mom.

1. It will never cease to amaze me why children pick their favorite things. Why they pick red for their favorite color, why they like turkey (hold the mayo) sandwiches over PB&J, why they pick their BFF. I love how children are the same, but different. With four kids, they have their favorites and their dislikes. It’s almost like its their individual preference and a bit of peer pressure. I love watching the kids interact with their friends, and when Kailey makes a new “friend” at the ballfield during the friggin 4 days a week we are down there. Like I said, it will never cease to amaze me why their pick their favorite things and the things that they don’t like. I love to watch them figure out how they fit in the world.

2. The feeling I get when they think of other people. Wither it be looking before they take off running at the park and waiting when they see someone coming. Holding the door for someone else, or even making something to make someone else feel good. Even a little drawing or pushing in someones chair so they don’t have too, small things have big impacts. The “I HELP!” or “me do!” and pitching in, makes the world go around for me. Kid’s want to feel appreciated just like everyone else does, they want to please the adults in their life. Children give their love freely, they are the most generous little creatures. well, most of the time.

3. Knowing that nothing heals quite as well as a hug. When the world is crashing down in tweendom, or be it a trip and fall complete with a bump a hug from Mom heals the hurt. The love that I have for my children, it seems to have no end. Its so filling, so exasperating, so real it’s almost scary. Being a mom can be down right scary sometimes, knowing that your in charge and lives depend on you. When you see that lil face smiling at you it makes it all worth while. It also helps that as Mom, I have the power over dessert. mmaahhahahaa.

4. When I think that something I’ve made or done isn’t quite the way I want it, or I’ve done it wrong. They don’t see the “mistake”, my children seem to think the world of me. (At least now, and yes, I plan to enjoy it while I can because when they are teen’s they are probably going to scream “I will never be like you” or “I don’t like you!” and then when they have children they’ll come back and say. “I.am.so.friggin.sorry.” and “you, where right Mom.” and won’t let their children whistle in the house just like I have. Slowly, but surely I’m becoming my mother, and its not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Love ya mom.) Once when I was sewing something I screwed up and grumbled “shit”. yes, I said shit. And started ripping out the mistake, Bryce asked me why I was taking it apart. I told him it was because I did it wrong and had to start over, he told me that it was perfect and he likes what I make. My heart still warms up when I think of that. And yes, as long as my children will wear them I will continue to make sweaters for them, and sew up lil creatures for them too.

5. Being there when they have mastered a new skill. The look on their faces is priceless. The baby’s first steps, the first home run, first ride without training wheels their eyes are screaming “I’m doing it!! I AM doing IT!!!” All that hard work, perseverance, a little bit of failure, and a push or two from Mom and Dad to accomplish their goal. If it wasn’t for trying there would be no accomplishments.

I love being a mom. Like I said this is the hardest, most challenging job in the world. There are no take backs, there is no fear of unemployment, just well, this. Day after day, as they grow up I grow a little bit too. Every day is a new challenge, every day I am, as a person am tested. My patience, my conflict resolution, my organizational skills, heck even my knowledge in technology is tested (thank you Wii, and your freezing up.) There are moments where my head feels like its going to implode and I want to scream “what the heck was I thinking??”,  honestly I would never give this up for the world. Never go back and change anything. I love being a mother, and I love my job, even though there is no pension and they pay doesn’t buy groceries or put gas in the car.

Aw, crap. I think I’m supposed to tag 5 people from another country… well. I don’t think I have blog readers out of the US that have kids…. but then again my memory is mush and its amazing that I’m still allowed to drive a car. So please correct me if I’m wrong, cause you know there is a dang good chance that I am. I tag… Tracey at frugal fuzzy britches, Cayli at Spin a Yarn for Ewe,  Julie at Stoneview, Mary at Right Sides Together, and Robin at Perky Knits and Stitches and anyone else too. It’s so much fun reading other people’s views on why they love motherhood.

For a little bit of fun, this video clip is from Corra’s band concert, she is sitting in the last row and is second from the left. She hasn’t been playing for very long, just 4 months. All in all, I think she did a darn good job and that group of 4 & 5 graders did a great job. Anyway I thought a contest would be quite fun. First person to guess the name of this song wins either some sock yarn or some roving. Contest closed, Robin won! Congrat’s Robin. I’ll be mailing out something good to you sometime this week 🙂

here is a link to the video in case it doesn’t embed right.

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First finished knits in 2009

Ok, so maybe these where finished a week or so ago…. but none the less these are my first finished knits of 2009

pattern: Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur
yarn: 108.0 yards Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in colorway indigo and 43.2 yards (39.5m) in verdes
needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm
started Jan 2 and finished Jan 3 2009
raveled: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AmandaCathleen/thorpe
notes: I increased up to somewhere in between the med. and the large size since I was using a lighter yarn. So I had to fudge the numbers for the earflaps and such. Even though this style hat doesn’t flatter me, its nice and toasty when I’m shoving the driveway. I thought adding the green to the purl sides of the garter edge would tie it in nicely with my green cowl. I didn’t think about how much of a pain in the ass the ear flaps would be! I had lots of ends to weave in! However, all those extra ends made the ear flaps nice and thick!


ahhh, the necessary mitts.
Pattern: Urban Necessity Gloves by Colleen Michele Meagher
yarn: 1.47 skeins Noro Cashmere Island color 14
needles: US 6
Started January 6 2009 and Finished January 10 2009
raveled: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AmandaCathleen/urban-necessity-gloves
notes: I casted on for the small size, knit 3” of the ribbing. Increased the thumb gusset for the medium size (13 thumb sts). If your really interested in how many rows each finger took its on my ravelry page. I used a slightly thinner yarn that what was called for, so my gauge was a little smaller. The only thing I had issues was with with the mitten cap. I ripped it out and knit it 3 times. I didn’t like how the decreases where written it left a “poof” of fabric on the top part of the cap. So I decreased it like you would well decrease for a sock! Its a little too shallow but its functional. These mitts are fantastic for getting the kids in the van and other things that I need my fingers for. Its wonderful to be able to flip the cap over my fingers when needed! I can still text with these on as long as I’m not trying to hold something else in my arms. I’ve been thinking about knitting a sweater from this yarn, it would be so beautifully soft, but holy crap would it pill like mad!
One last FO (I think) from 2008,

pattern: Birthday Cowl by Nova Seals
yarn: 118.8 yards Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in verdes
needles: US 8 (5mm)
Started and Finished sometimes during early December
raveled: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AmandaCathleen/birthday-cowl
Notes: I needed a cowl and in a hurry this one fit the bill perfectly. I knit until it looked like I used the half the ball. My finished cowl is 8” high. All was good until we had a really cold day and I let my eldest daughter borrow it. She refuses to give it back.

I’m still working on a few things, started my first baby surprise jacket on Saturday during a class that I’m taking at Stitch your Art out in State College. Don’t think for a minute that we’re having a baby surprise. Oh.hell.no. This is being knit in worsted weight for a toddler sized Kailey sweater. I’m using Noro’s cotton kureyon (which is a pain in the ass, pulls apart easy and is incredibly sticky. Don’t know what I was expecting from a single ply cotton/wool blend!) and since I don’t have enough of the cotton kureyon I’m adding some stripes using Cascade 220 in 8906 Azur

raveled
I really have to be one of the worst students ever, still unable to shake not being on time for class in high school I still manage to be late for Cynthia’s class. After I got the sitter all settled on Saturday morning I went out to start the (new) van to find the tire on the passenger side was really low (again). So I had to put air in it (again). I was hoping to be able to stop at sheetz to get coffee on the way there, but putting the air in the tire kinda sucked that right out the window. I still managed to be late to the class! I promise next time I’ll be on time, and I’ll make sure to have my morning cup of coffee. I couldn’t think on Saturday my head was so foggy! I had to cast on twice, screwed up the first row, twice before I got it. At least now I’m sailing on my merry way.

Its totally killing me right now not to start something for myself. Like a vest, or a sweater…. *sigh*

driving-thru

I’ve been a little slow lately showing the kids finished sweaters, better at showing works in progress. Still, need to show the sweaters.
One night I dreamt of a sweater, since ya’ll are knitters you don’t think I’m crazy. But really, this sweater was in my subconscious, I’ve been thinking of a great tweedy sweater and couldn’t get it out of my mind. I wanted to knit a tweedy sweater for my son, with a bit of colorwork bits on the yoke. Good thing the next day was a Tuesday and one of my LYS’s was open, cause I knew just the yarn I was going to use too.

Too bad it was the wrong weight for the pattern I chose. It’s ok, right? I know a bit of math, I can figure it out. I measured the kid, figured out the cast on for the sleeves and the body and all that. It was good till I got up to the yoke. Worked one row of the color change and the colorwork got lost. Because I was using a lighter weight yarn. Things needed changing up a bit.

I worked the first color change row as written, reversed it, then worked a few rows before changing colors. I love how this sweater turned out. Its fantastically tweedy with a bit of color. I have to say that Bryce loves it too.

stats:
pattern- Drive thru by Wendy Bernard
size- to fit a 25″ chest
yarn- Queensland Collection Kathmandu DK
MC: 7 skeins color #433 (foresty green tweed)
CC1: barely 25 yards of color #434 (tomato red tweed)
CC2: barely 20 yards of color #432 (dark brown tweed)
CC3: barely 20 yards of color #415 (light brown tweed)
needles: US 7 (4.5mm)
Started Sept. 9
Finished Sept. 20, two days after picture day. Retakes are tomorrow. ; )

I desperately love this sweater, and want one of my own. The color is just fantastic, I love that green! But wouldn’t it be just a bit to, um.. odd for my son and I to have a matching sweaters? It seems very freudian crazy my son and I having matching sweaters at any age (even though I think that man was a quack). And trust me, my kids have enough to talk about if they ever decide to go to therapy! (Next time your kids are in the car and your pumping gas make silly faces at them. The giggles will never stop! Makes pumping gas a little bit more fun too!) But it wouldn’t really be that horrible, a matching sweater, would it?
And because these little guys are just too cute, the kids convinced me (read Corra) that life isn’t crazy enough over here we need more animals,

welcome bandit and Salt and Pepper little 8 week old baby kittens. Just what I needed.

searching for rainbows,

its been some week, and I’m having a hard time adjusting to the day’s they seem to be flying by faster then ever before. Recently my mum blogged about her sister, my Aunt, who is in the hospital. You can go over to my mum’s blog to read more about it. My Aunt is now out of the ICU, (yay!) but still needs prayers. If you can spare a few we’d all apprecate it. It seems to be mostly on my mind these days.
Now, I’m pretty sure that I didn’t mention a sweater for Allysa in any of my last posts. But this little one couldn’t get left out for picture day. Even though I didn’t leave much time to get one done. She told me over the summer when they where all quizzed on sweater preferences and color that she wanted another rainbow sweater.
Wait, what? What rainbow sweater? What do I mean another one? Well, yeah that’s right I don’t think I ever got around to blogging about it. sorry! Its hard to blog without pictures and I finished it around the time that Allysa dropped my camera while taking pictures and cranked off the lens. Here are a few pics and dets on her first rainbow sweater:

pattern: Tulips, A Colorful Cardigan for Baby by Lindsay Pekny
size: 6
needles: US 7 (4.5mm)
yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash
amounts : 1 ball bubblegum (used in border too), 0.8 wisteria, and I used 25 yards of each: Ballerina, Dublin, Aloe, Capri, Baby blue & Bordeaux.
started: Jan. 20, 2008
finished: Feb. 4, 2008

notes: honestly, I’m not all that crazy about swish. It did grow a bit in the wash (keep in mind I’m way to paranoid to put handknits through a wash cycle on my washer. I do soak them in a basin, put them in a sweater bag for a spin on the spin cycle. And if I’m in a hurry I’ll dry them on the sweater rack in my dyer.) It’s held up pretty well over the winter, granted Allysa didn’t wear it that often. It has a few balls on it, just like the other sweaters in different yarns I’ve made. It wasn’t all that pleasurable to knit with.
pattern mods: I added 4 button holes this time around. Other than that, worked as written.

Now, as I was saying. Another rainbow sweater. *sigh* I’ve knit this pattern 3 times now. I don’t think I’ve knit another pattern this many times before. Granted I’ved knit a few top down raglans, so I guess you could say I’ve knit this lots of times. Anyway, I picked a much nicer yarn. Dream in Color classy. Allysa told me that she wanted a pink and purple sweater. I picked out the green cause I thought it would make a lovely contrast. In the end though, I’m not sure how much I like the green.

details:
pattern: Tulips, A Colorful Cardigan for Baby by Lindsay Pekny
size: 6-ish
needles: US 7 (4.5mm) for border’s US 8 (5.0mm)
yarn: Dream in color classy, purchased from the loopy ewe
amounts:
cool fire- 68 grams/150 yards
punky fuchsia – 78 grams/170 yards
gogo grassy- 108 grams/237.5 yards
started: October 1, 2008
finished: October 7, 2008 (the day after picture day. Oh, the irony of it all.)
gauge: aww, crap. I forgot to measure it.
buttons: By La Mode hook 1158 style 41346 measures 1″ (25mm) purchased from Joann’s


mods: I knit this at a larger gauge to it would be bigger. I’m pretty sure that I increased to the largest size, I just kept increasing every other row until it looked like the sleeves would meet under her arms when I draped it around her. I worked a color change row every 12 rows. ahh… the borders are wider, button band, umm… worked an extra repeat on the sleeves. Drives me nuts that the first sweater was so short, so I worked 2 more color bands (total of 9) on the body and 1 more on the sleeves, also I made the cuff a few rows longer and folded it up. Allysa proclaimed this sweater nice and cozy when she first put it on. If all goes well, she’ll wear this for a while!
Allysa didn’t seem to mind that I didn’t have this done in time for picture day. She wore her other rainbow sweater. Her teacher told me that the photographer complemented Allysa on her sweater, Allysa sat a little straighter and said “thank you my Mommie made it for me.”

btw, if all goes well I’ll be at the SOAR market Saturday afternoon! Who else is going?

PS Many Birthday wishes to my Dad, and to my Aunt Liz! Happy, Happy Birthday!

almost on time…

I had a sinking feeling when I casted on for Bryce’s picture day sweater that I wasn’t going to be done in time. When I told Bryce that it was a good possibility that his sweater wasn’t going to be done in time and I told him not to worry there will always be retakes (yeah, I’m totally going with the idea that my 7 year old son is waiting with incredible amounts of enthusiasm to wear a sweater for picture day that his mother made for him. Sarcasm escapes me). And Bryce replies with “Don’t worry Mommy, I’m just happy that your knitting a sweater for me.” Kid totally knows how to ham up his Mom. (And how to get lots of handknits.) Yesterday he told me that he is glad I’m not a “mean” Mom. (I’m pretty sure its cause he wants his pokemon cards back.) Anway, his picture day was Tuesday and as you can see,

I didn’t quite make it. But on the other hand, I personally think this sweater is turning out beautifully. Bryce agrees and keeps telling me how soft it is. I’ve attached the sleeves and am 2″ into the yoke (I plan on knitting 3″ before starting the yoke pattern thing yeah).  Now that I’ve gotten most of the boring bits outta the way I’m ready for the fun part. Bring on the yoke!

for the love of tweed,

Since ya’ll are knitters you will understand this dream. You will not think that I’m crazy, ya’ll might have even had a dream like this. Sometime this summer I decided that I would knit sweaters for my kids to wear for picture day. I knew that their school has an (in my opinion) early picture day, I figured it would be in late September. I was shocked when the paper came home telling me it was going to be September 16! Thank goodness I was almost done with Corra’s sweater but I hadn’t even ordered the yarn for Bryce’s sweater! I knew that I wanted to knit him drive-thru, but I was going to knit it using knitpicks swish. That was, until I had my dream. I don’t know if it was the late night blog reading or what. But last Wednesday night I dreamt about yarn, I dreamt about his sweater. I dreamt about tweed.

yeah, you so read that right. I had a dream about knitting Bryce’s sweater.I tried telling myself that I could wait to get the yarn. I could wait till Saturday, till Corra’s sweater was done. (Those sleeves where taking for.ever!) But I knew that one of my local yarn shops has Queensland Collection Kathmandu (rav link) but I couldn’t remember if it was in DK or aran. I was hoping it was in aran, since the pattern is written for worsted weight. I couldn’t wait one more day, I drove down Thursday afternoon (they are closed Friday’s.) Nope, not that lucky. It was DK and the pattern is written so the sweater is knit from the bottom up. Fantastic. I thought, well it won’t be that hard, I’ll just knit a swatch, tweek some numbers and it will be all good.

damned swatch was no bloody help at all. I did learn that the yarn does grow and fluff up a bit after its been washed. but clicky on that pic to embiggen it. You’ll see. It didn’t matter what size needle I used, the damned gauge is the same on a US 6 or a 7. 5.5 sts/inch All the damned same. *grumble* Ok, if I could have lived with the fabric the US8’s gave me it woulda been ok, but the stitches where too loose. You know where this is going now? I had to re-wright the pattern. Math! Gah! No! Say it isn’t so! Ok, really it wasn’t that bad. Maybe some other day I’ll explain now but right now my brain just hurts. And I want to get back to knitting with this yummy tweedy yarn.

I’ve finished one sleeve this afternoon and started the second one right after it. I realize now with picture day being 4 days away there is no way I’m going finish this sucker before then. But there are always retakes, right?

ps. Finished Corra’s sweater Monday-ish I’m just waiting on the buttons.

dreaming, of knitting

It took 8 hours to get to my parents house yesterday. 2 bathroom stops, 7 construction zones, 1 lunch break, 2 snacks, 5 movies, 1 impromptu Old McDonald song, totaling 8 hours of me dreaming of knitting. Usually, I try to stop for gas in Port Jervis because its cheap, and they pump it for you (one good thing about New Jersey). I was so happy to see the lines for the pump, even though it added more time to our trip. Because this gave me time to knit, something I had been dreaming about for 5 1/2 hours. I started knitting away on my secret project,

and while I was getting fuel my window was down and the guy next to me was watching me knit. He asked me “do you do that when your driving?” I told him “No, but it would be very tempting if there wasn’t the risk of impaling myself with all these needles!”
I didn’t get to knit Wednesday night at all. I had lots of ends to weave in, 6 little tiny crochet loops to create and a teeny little baby sweater to block. Crochet is just too fiddly for me, and those loops totally kicked my butt. It wasn’t so much the chaining, it was getting the stupid loops to stay put.

stats-
pattern: Super-natural stripes by fpea
size: 0-6m
for: Adrian’s baby boy… can’t remember his name… maybe Aden?
needles: US 7 (4.5mm) and a size G crochet hook
yarn: a little less than 1 ball of MC Lion Brand cotton ease in Lime
CC1 about 20 yards of cotton ease in Maize
CC2 about 20 yards of cotton ease in Almond
notions: 4 sweet little wooden buttons that I picked up from the Yarn Lounge in Richmond, VA. While I was visiting Mike at work earlier this week. (I’ve been in the car waaay to much this summer.) The buttons measure 1/2″ (1.5cm) and I placed them about 1.5″ apart from each other.

mods: I knit this pretty much like the pattern stated. However, I did knit the sleeves before I picked up the button band. I have no idea how to explain this but where the pattern says to knit one row of the CC2 before you knit the button band in the MC. I knit the first and last sts in the MC (green) and the rest in CC2 (almond.) Basically I wanted the white to frame it, I didn’t like the look of the white all they way down on the button band, yes it meant 4 more ends to weave in. Also I crochet 6 chains instead of 8. (My buttons where much smaller than the called for button.)
I want to knit this sweater for Kailey now, the stripes are just too darn cute!

On another knitterly note Sunday my mom and I (sans kiddo’s) will be joining my sister at French Park in North Egremont MA for ‘Egremont on Parade’. Since its late, and my brain hurts drop by my sis’s blog for way more information than I’m giving you. If your going to be in the area, drop by. I’m sure its going to be a wonderful afternoon. Personally, I’m looking forward to 4 hours of peaceful knitting and not having to worry about who is eating sand now…

finished, with time to spare for Softball?

I’m still surprised that I pulled this one off. That I didn’t crash and burn into a big mess, the house is still livable and the health department isn’t knocking down my door. But as Carrie K. pointed out babies are small, and thats a good thing in so many ways!

I finished the T H I S Sunday sweater Saturday morning, sewed on the label and the buttons put it in the washer and dryer and wrapped it up Sunday morning. Just in time.

Pattern stats:
pattern found here
yarn:1.5 balls Lion Brand cotton ease in maize
size: about 6-12 months
needles: US 7
notions: 6 buttons (1 extra for the mom, just in case ; ) by Le Bouton #340 hook 320
started: June 25 2008
finished: June 28 2008
notes: The sweater was very well received. : ) Now, a few notes on the pattern. Its more of a guideline than a pattern. It does tell you how to knit the yoke but thats about it. I knit 4″ of the sleeves before the decreases. I wouldn’t say this is a beginner pattern, but that stitch pattern on the yoke is what drew me in!

Its nice to have the deadline knitting done when you have things to look forward to like a mother daughter softball game. Oyi. Lets just say I don’t suck horribly at sports, but I don’t exactly excel. Click on the photo below to watch a lovely video of me at bat on flickr.

Its a good thing Corra’s much better at softball than I am,

Crap, it’s this Sunday?

Tuesday night while I was at my parents house I realized that I have a baby shower to go to on Sunday.
T H I S Sunday. As in 3 days, T H I S Sunday. So when the kids and I got home Wednesday night I casted on the Seamless Yoke Sweater by Carole Barenys. I’m using Lionbrand cotton ease in Maize from the stash yarn (yay! Mike got this for me a year or so ago) and US size 7’s (4.5mm).

I need to finish the body tonight (about 16 more rows). Finish 2 sleeves by Friday night/Saturday. Finish the other sleeve, sew in a tag and buttons. Wash and dry it on Saturday. Wrap it Sunday just in time for the party.

Lets hope this works. I would rather be knitting my February Lady Sweater.

Little Sprout Jacket

still trying to catch up on the Fo’s Kailey’s been wearing this jacket for almost a month now

pattern: double breasted seed stitch jacket by Elinor Brown
size made: 9-12 months
yarn: 3 skeins Casscade 220 color 7814 dyelot 7202 purchased from Webs.
needles: US 7 (4.50mm)
notions: 4 buttons JHB 1793
time: November 8-18 2007
notes: made sleeves 1″ longer. I like the look of them folded up a bit.

Elinor wrote a wonderful pattern for a classic baby sweater, but I have to honestly tell you towards the end the seed stitch was.killing.me! All that seed stitch was worth it for this lovely sweater that’s been keeping Kailey warm and toasty.