The Struggle is Real - Act 3

Just to review ...

1. Act 1 can be found here.
2. Act 2 can be found here.
3. Pride is bad. 
4. Tantrums are worse.
5. Yarn Bee Acrylic from Hobby Lobby is good for crochet - not so much for knitting.
6. I am 4 months behind on my Christmas knitting.
7. If you don't know what I am talking about - go back to the top of this list.

Everybody with me now??

Challenge 2 - pick the yarn! (again)

Challenge 3 - pick the color! (again)

Enter stage right ... Caron Simply Soft.  I love this yarn, used it many times in the past and for some unexplainable crazy reason I looked right past it on my shelf when deciding on a yarn for these sweaters.  My old friend ... Caron ... looked back at me from my yarn shelf.  A beautiful bright and cherry pink!  "Pick me" it said.  "I have never failed you."

Eskarina, girl, pink, perfect!

I had one pink skein and the green pink variegated in stash.
I purchased a second pink skein just to be sure I had enough.

While at the store they had a complimentary variegated yarn
 that matched the pink that I like even more.
Bright and cherry for a baby girl.

The sweater requires 2 buttons.  And, oh, these buttons.
They are just too cute for words.

For my grand nephew I moved away from blue (too many bad memories there), to a sweet Burgundy.  I had many skeins of burgundy in my stash but a contrasting color needed to be obtained. I decided to go with a deep charcoal.

The soccer ball buttons were a great find as well.

The next step was to pick up my knitting needles and begin again.

Much better.
 The stitches are even and any minor issues
 will definitely block out.
And I love the color choices better than my first 2 tries.

I

As you can see I am working on the collar now
 and the sleeves need to be finished.
But I don't have to be a mile away
 from this sweater to enjoy the project.

It amazes me that yarn can make such a difference in the
quality of the stitches.  Not an error can be found - so far!  Ha!

Just a few pictures to prove the point.

I will be very proud to give this sweater away to my
Grand Nephew.

One final note about this sweater - it has not yet been blocked!  Remember, I blocked the other yarn/sweater twice - and could not get what Caron Simply Soft gave me without blocking.  Also the stitch pattern at the bottom has better definition.  With the other acrylic, the stitch patterning seemed to blur as the yarn became fuzzy with use.  (Fuzzy ... another problem with the Yarn Bee Acrylic that I didn't realize till I did the same sweater in Caron Simply Soft.)

Thank you readers for your kind comments in the previous posts about my knitting efforts. My angst about the minor problems I couldn't get past (not one problem, mind you, but many) might have seemed puzzling.  I see that "perfectest streak" in others as they look at their creative works ... and I wonder how can they be so critical of themselves.  The fact is that experienced folks of any skill or art form are their own worst critics.  They know when a product they have produced is subpar.  I am no different.  I want my knitted gifts to others to be "hand crafted" and not "home made" in appearance.  There is a difference in my mind.

I'll post finished pictures at some point, and after Christmas, pictures of the kids wearing their sweaters, but for now this play in 3 acts has a happy ending.  Challenge 4 is ahead - Complete Two Sweaters - my deadline for these is the end of October.  This is the easiest  and "fun-ist" of all the challenges for me.   The decision parts always make me crazy ... the doing parts are my happy place.

I learned a few things from this exercise.

• Not all acrylics are equal.
• Yarn Bee acrylic was shiny and showy but splity and slippery - more chances to mess up. 
• Caron Simply Soft behaves and feels and looks more like regular wool.
• A "pretty face" (i.e. Yarn Bee) does not always produce a pretty product.   
• Yarn Bee escaped the trash can this time. I had success with it previously and will save it for crocheted blankets and toys ... and maybe weaving. 
• Note to self: Whiskey DOES works better than temper tantrums.  😁