A Very Proud First Ta-Dah

This is a momentous occasion.  Not only is it my very first Ta-Dah, it is also my very first knitted garment.  I have very limited knitting experience.  Said experience consists solely of a couple of very basic cushions and a hot water bottle cover.  I wanted to tackle something bigger, an item of clothing to be exact.  It seemed beyond me when I thought about it, but I knew I just had to knuckle down, get the pattern, start knitting and worry about the bits I can't do when I come across them.  

So off I trotted to my new LYS that I'd popped into once briefly, and wanted to browse more thoroughly.  I want to support local, independent businesses, especially ones filled with delicious yarn, even if I can't afford it, so I thought a pattern would be an ideal, and affordable purchase.  After deciding that Bella Bee would be the recipient of finished item (much quicker and more managable child size) and receiving a little advice I settled on this pattern, with this yarn, but in another colourway.  It's a very cheap yarn available from Wilkinsons, for approx £1.30/50g. I had one ball already at home that I wasn't sure what to do with, so picked up another three, as four are suggested for the short sleeved version of the cardigan that I was going to do.  In an ideal world I would of used the yarn suggested, but budget would not allow, and being a first attempt I was realistic enough to know it could possibly go horribly wrong, and if so didn't want the extra guilt of wasting good money and yarn.  

Knitting up the separate pieces went very well.  Better than expected.  I wasn't sure about the colours, but Bella Bee seemed very pleased, so on I went.  I was very pensive about adding the border to the two front sections and thought it might be above my ability, but I sat and I persevered and eventually conquered!  A very proud moment!  Then came the very tedious (in my opinion) of sewing all the sections together.  I get very easily distracted when doing something I don't really want to do so it can take much longer to complete said task, which then also frustrates me.  I knew I'd be pleased I'd be when it was finally finished so I made myself sit and finish it off over the last couple of days. 

And finally, today, It Was Done.  Bella Bee loves it, and hasn't taken it off since the moment it was finished.  It's a great feeling to see she likes something I've put so much work into, and helps encourage and motivate me to continue, and improve my knitting prowess.

Yarn used: Yarnfair Stripes, Shade 02

Approx Cost: 125g (only used 2.5 balls!) @ £1.30/50g = £3.25! Bargain!

Plus a whole lot of knitting confidence! Priceless!

The Sirdar Easy Knit pattern is very detailed and very easy to follow, and walks you through step by step, which is great for beginners.

Have yet to see how it survives a wash and will be changing the ribbon for knitted ties, as they keep coming undone.  I didn't bother to match the stripes and colours up in the different sections, as didn't want to be fussing around with it, so the colours don't match up where the sections join.  But overall a good result I'd say!  I'm not too modest to say I'm really rather proud of myself and have a little smile to myself whenever I think about what I've accomplished.

Even if you think something is beyond your ability, give it a go, you can only get better by trying something you previously couldn't do.