It’s done! And here are a few photos to show the finishing of the sweater and the beautiful dye job which yielded results that, to me, are spectacular!
![The first sweater before finishing.](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2_sqLfk_GII/Scg0YA-7aVI/AAAAAAAAFNo/iBUNJN34HtQ/s640/100_3980.jpg)
The first sweater before finishing.
![The first sweater in the dye pot.](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2_sqLfk_GII/Scg0bO_bZWI/AAAAAAAAFOI/K4JAQb0Hq6w/s640/100_4017.jpg)
The first sweater in the dye pot.
![Beauty! Dyed, blocked and drying.](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2_sqLfk_GII/Scg0cGwCpmI/AAAAAAAAFOY/MuzZbWTk29k/s640/100_4020.jpg)
Beauty! Dyed, blocked and drying.
This first sweater taught me a lot of things:
- Knitting gauge swatches (yes, plural!) is an essential step in making a sweater that fits. The swatch also helps to figure out if the drape and structure of the fabric works for the garment you are making.
- Miles and miles of stockinette stitch, knit in the round, broken up by one cable is not boring.
- Measuring the weight of your fiber to figure out how much dye you need creates beautiful color saturation.
- Throwing an entire garment, the first garment you ever knit, into a pot of hot water is not scary. Honest! OK, just to be safe I used Bare superwash merino, from KnitPicks. 🙂
Next sweater on my needles is a top-down raglan for my sweet husband – with colorwork. Yay!
Did I mention that I love knitting?