Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Please Help Me Decide Whether This Sweater Lives or Dies

Tonight, rather than casting on a new pattern, I thought maybe I
should work on one of the two sweaters that have been in hibernation
for a little while.  I picked this one - which needed edging and both (long)
sleeves - merely because it was conveniently located in a basket on the
other side of the room.  :)

I started crocheting this little sweater after I knew I was pregnant (this statement is not as strange as it sounds - somewhere upstairs is a baby sweater I knitted last summer that still needs buttons) but before we knew it was a girl or a boy.  Once I got to the edging I stopped working on it, thinking that if we were to have a girl I would perhaps edge it in another color and add a crocheted flower and if we were going to have a boy...well, I didn't know what I would do to it if we were having a boy.


IMG_4950

And now we're having a boy. 

Knowing that I didn't have anything in the same weight (fingering) or in a complimentary color I went ahead and crocheted the edging and two rows of one sleeve...and then I started thinking about frogging it.  My reasons are as follows:


  • As much as I love the color and know that green is, without a doubt, masculine, I still think it looks a bit feminine.  I think it's the fact that it's crocheted.  

  • It's tiny.  I already knitted two tiny sweaters.  He's only going to be tiny for so long.

  • It's so plain and I have no idea how to spice it up other than with buttons and, while buttons are great, they can only do so much.  


Matt likes it but, honestly, the man is so wonderful he'd say that about anything and really mean it.  His suggestion was to put it aside for a little while and think about it which is great but it's been aside and I've been thinking about it (or not) for at least a couple of months now.  So I decided to take a picture of it and ask your opinion.  Should I bother with it at all or just frog it (and not use the yarn to make another Pebble Sweater Vest, I swear)?  Or, since it looks like it's only going to take one skein of the four I have, should I just ago ahead and finish the last eighteen rows, slap on three wooden buttons and maybe actually never actually put it on the kid?  Or, better yet, does anyone have any embellishment ideas? 

Thoughts, suggestions and opinions are very, very welcome! 

Thanks in advance!



7 comments:

  1. It's gorgeous but a wee bit feminine. IMO, little boys don't really wear short sleeves. Sorry I couldn't help you embellish it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the swingy shape definitely adds a femininity to it, but I wouldn't frog it! I'd finish it and put it aside for a future baby gift for someone having a girl! Nothing like a handmade gift that's already finished and ready to go when you need it! I'd probably add some flower buttons for embellishment!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'd finish the sleeves, rip out the edging that you have now, and put on a new edging of navy blue or another "boy color", and put buttons all the way down the front. I think that would make it more masculine, and even though he'll still wear it for a short time it's one of those things you can pick up in a couple of years and think "oh, when he was so small."

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with Elizabeth that it does look a bit feminine (so cute!)
    However, since you have four skeins of such a lovely color, I think I'd recommend frogging it and making a bigger sweater (maybe with a matching hat?)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, it does look more "little girl" than "little boy." Seems a shame to frog the whole thing, because it really is lovely. Maybe save it as a gift for a friend who'll one day have a girl?

    ReplyDelete
  6. when I first looked at it I thought it looked a bit swingy- shaped too, but I think babies have such fat middles that it won't look that way on him. i agree that maybe it ought to have long sleeves in blue and maybe if you did a little nehru (sp?) collar it'd be boyish. oh, then for embellishment you could make some little felt military patches and put them on the chest. and little gold buttons! I think it could be very boyish and adorable and fun!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with the buttons all the way down theory, but you could also pick out some really boy-ish buttons; frogs to go with the color and the woodland theme or footballs or something.

    ReplyDelete