One little, two little, three little sweaters.

If at first you don't succeed, try again.  And again.  And again.  And again.

I like to have a knitting project to keep me awake occupied while I'm a passenger
 in the car.  Over the past winter I knit this sweet tiered sweater for Finley
while we racked up a few thousand miles on our car.

  It's a simple pattern, knit in one piece from the top down.  When you're done knitting
 all that's left to do is weave in the ends and sew on the buttons.  No seams!
( Lisa Chemery's infant and toddler pattern available here. )

I'm allergic to wool, but the clerk at our local yarn shop assured me
2 strands of this gray wool blend yarn would knit up
 into a soft sweater comfortable for any child.

Encore Tweed color T789/ Lot #49686

Enter the Bean Theory.

In case you aren't familiar with this theory, here it is:
 When you plant beans, you get beans.

When I asked Little Finley Bean if she liked the sweater, she had no qualms
 about telling methat it wasn't very snugly.  And it wasn't purple or pink.
  I couldn't argue with the snugly part, since my nose was itching and my eyes
 were watering the entire time I was knitting the sweater!

  As for the color, I realize now that a soon-to-be 4 year old
 has very specific likes and dislikes.

 Little Maggie Bean is too young to voice an opinion, so I knit hers
 with super chunky acrylic yarn.  Her mommy bean is partial to gray and black,
 so I chose the color to appease her taste.

Lion Brand Hometown USA color 150/ Lot # 11917

Chicago Charcoal is the perfect color for toddling around in the big city.

Then I started on a pink sweater, only to discover (when I was halfway finished)

that the rest of my pink yarn was a different lot number,
 aka a slightly different shade of pink.

Honolulu Pink

Lion Brand Hometown USA color 102/ Lot # 14417

I searched the world over and could find no more yarn in the color I needed.  I even visited
the company website, but they would not ship a specific lot number of yarn.  Soooooo.......

I ripped apart the pink sweater and started a new sweater in the prettiest shade of purple.



Minneapolis Purple

Lion Brand Hometown USA color 147/ Lot # 12087

Did I learn my lesson with the pink yarn?
Why no, I did not.

I was more than half done with the sweater in the prettiest shade of purple when I realized

the rest of the yarn was a different lot number and had more of a blue tint.
 It was 1:30 am, and I prayed my tired eyes were deceiving me, but in the early morning light
 I could clearly see the new yarn was not the same.

  Waaaaaa!  Waaaaaa!  Waaaaaa!
It all looked the same when I bought it!

I searched the world over, once again, and could find no more yarn in....

(y'all join in the chorus now)
"The prettiest shade of purple!"

Can you see the difference?
Well, now that I've posted a photo on my blog I can.

By this time I was ready to toss the blankety-blank sweater into the dumpster,
 but being the recycler that I am, I decided to carry on and donate the sweater
to a charitable organization.

I knit the last tier with the new lot number of bluish yarn, hoping for a sort of ombre look.
 Wouldn't you know, I had to join a new skein for the last four rows of the sweater.
  It was the same wrong lot number.............

but the color matched the yarn I used to knit the top 2/3 of the sweater!!!
 What?!  What?! I'd add one more what ...(along with a few choice words)
but this is the largest font available and a G rated blog.

 Seriously.  Am I on Candid Camera?!!!!

Sooooooo, I ripped out the bluish tier along with a few handfuls of my hair
 and finished the entire sweater in ........ 

the prettiest shade of purple.

And all the beans lived happily ever after.

Lion Brand published this free pattern for the cabbage roses I used to make the brooches,
so they've somewhat redeemed themselves after the lot number fiasco.
I knit the roses and leaves with size 1 needles and fingering weight yarn.
My flower petals curl in instead of out, but I'm a do-it-my-way kinda gal.

  I found the simple leaf pattern at Buttons & Pickles .
I made a smaller size by omitting rows 9-16
 and then joined 2 leaves (wrong sides together )
to make a sturdier leaf.

I think the moral of the story is pretty obvious.

Check your lot numbers!!!
But beware, even if they're different, the color may be the same. 

And if they're the same, the color may be different...........
Oh, forget it!  Knit everything with variegated yarn.


Obviously I was not compensated by Lion Brand Yarn in any way, but if they'd like to ship
me a crate of yarn to keep me busy this winter, my email address is available on my profile.  :)
I will say, however, that the sweaters pass the snugly test, they're machine washable,
and will withstand the hottest dryer setting.  Or so it says on the label.
The label with the lot number.

I'm having a lot of fun knitting up fall fashions for the little beans.

Thanks for visiting,
DeeDee (as I'm known to our grandbeans)

Will they be Barbie sweaters after laundering?
Or perhaps my vintage sock monkeys will be sporting snugly new sweaters.



I'm joining the parties at:
Mod Vintage Life * Mod Mix Monday
Cozy Little House * Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style * Wow us Wednesdays
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson * Share Your Cup Thursdays