Fact the First: I have been wanting to learn how to knit a sweater for a while now.  Not necessarily because I think I will ever do one for myself, but just because it might be a handy skill to have, especially since a couple in my building is due to have a baby in the next month or so.

Fact the Second: I do not learn new skills from reading.  I wish I did.  It would make my professional life so much easier and it would save me money.  But there you have it.  I love to read, but I am a visual learner.  I used to think this was some sort of shortcoming on my part, but DH took a test when he started college to determine what sort of learner he was, and it turns out that some people just learn differently than others.  Imagine that.

So I figured that once I got around to actually preparing to knit any sort of sweater, I would take a class, and a few Saturdays ago, Kate Atherley was teaching “Top Down Baby Sweaters” at The Purple Purl.  She also made me into a sock knitter, so I signed up and off I went.

Class Work at the Purl

Turns out, top down sweaters are really not that hard after all.  In class, Kate taught us the basic construction and got us partway through the sample size.  This was the end result:

Sweater! (Teensy though it may be!)

Notice the quarter for scale.  I am not entirely happy with how the underarms turned out, but I am hoping it will get better with practice.

My first real baby sweater will be a test knit for Meghan Jackson, in fingering weight, and if it goes well, it will be a gift for the aforementioned couple in my building.  If I had a lot more baby-friendly DK or worsted weight yarn, I might try Puerperium or One Piece Baby Sweater, but I suspect I will do the test knit first.  I guess I had better decide soon!