Finally a Sweater!

While many fourth graders are playing hopscotch and dolls, I was dreaming about knitting my first sweater! Since I and all of my siblings wore uniforms to school, and since the uniform included a blazer and hat, the sweater project could only be for my father. Pop would receive the first sweater I ever knitted. I could hardly wait to start!

School was five miles from our home and we kids rode the bus daily. A wonderful yarn shop was midway between our house and St. James Catholic School in Savannah, Georgia. Mom phoned the yarn shop to advise I was coming and Pop would pick me up on his way home from work.

As I entered the yarn shop, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the colors and fibers that called out to me. I didn't know where to look first or how to begin choosing a pattern or yarn for Pop. The lovely lady who had spoken with Mom on the phone came to rescue me. We decided that a navy wool cardigan with collar would be a classic style for my father. Even if it took me a long time to complete, it would still be a current style and could be worn for years.

The lovely yarn lady helped me with the pattern and yarn selection, and then came the big question. "How big is your father." I told her that "he is really big." As a slim 10 year old, all fathers seemed really big in my eyes. We decided a size 44 would work just fine. (Pop was a size 40 chest but no matter, he wore that sweater as a coat until the day he went to heaven.)

That night I cast on to begin the back. I knit and knit............went to school, practiced the piano, did kid things, did my homework, and knit and knit. It took me nearly a year to finish the sweater. I was 11 years old, so thrilled to have finally knit a sweater, and could not wait to begin the next one!