Zipper conquered!

Back in February, I posted a photo of the yummy yarn I got from Sheeples Fine Fibres. Well I really couldn't hold back and I started knitting it up right away. It was going to be Estes Vest from Interweave Knits Magazine but I soon realized that the pattern called for way more yarn than was needed. I wasn't about to let my lovely handspun go to waste so I decided to add sleeves. (I used top-down seamless set-in sleeves, which rock btw!) I finished knitting the cardigan in the middle of March which is might fast for a sweater!!

Then I stalled... Why you ask? Well I thought that a zipper would look better than the buttons the pattern suggested... But zippers are my nemesis. I sewed a skirt once and it took me 3 or 4 tries (read: sew up, rip entire seam and repeat) to sew in the 4" zipper with my sewing machine. And it still wasn't perfect. The memory still haunts me.

Also I have a bad habit of making something really great and then ruining it with the finishing. I've been trying very hard to overcome my lack of perfectionism in my knitting... with occasional success... but it takes a lot of effort.

This sweater has turned out so well though. I was petrified of ruining it's perfection by messing up the zipper. So I stewed for a couple of weeks. Finally, this week I figured enough is enough! I found a really good tutorial for hand sewing in zippers (did I mention I'm really bad at hand sewing?) and...


After three painstaking days...


Allison: 1 Zipper: 0


I'm on a roll! Maybe I should go fix the buttons that are falling off my Central Park Hoodie...