Homemade Friday: Caherciveen from Contemporary Irish Knits

There are many things that my son inherited from his father - his looks, his good-natured teasing, his inability to lay around in bed after he wakes up first thing in the morning. 

But still, he also has a bit of me in there, too.  I most noticed it when I showed him the Caherciveen* pattern in Contemporary Irish Knits.  I'd thought of him when I saw it, and had picked out a nice, go-with-everything brown tweed yarn to use.  But then I remembered how picky he was, and how I didn't want to take the time to knit something that he would have no intention of wearing.

I showed him the pattern and asked if he liked it.  He was excited, but insisted that it had to be green, just like the picture.  And that's where I saw myself.  Whenever I would look at patterns with my Mom, when I wanted her to sew something for me, I would insist that we find the exact fabric that was on picture on the pattern, or some approximation of it.  My reasoning was that I wanted the entire design, just like the picture.  I've since grown out of that and learned the joys of multiple fabric and yarn choices.  But I had to smile a bit to myself as Sebastian and I searched for the right green yarn.

We settled on Knitpicks City Tweed in Basil, but I don't think they carry that color anymore.  The yarn is soft blend of merino wool, alpaca and tweed and worked great for this pattern.  I followed the pattern, knitting the 6 year old size.  It was an easy knit, and I especially liked the i-cord bind-off around all the edges.  I think it made the sweater look more finished, you know? 

The one thing that I'm not entirely in love with is the hood. It turned out a little pointy.  

However, I'm not entirely sure how much Sebastian will wear the vest.  Or let me rephrase - He will wear it much more often if I knit a big pouch pocket onto it.  And that's another thing he gets from me - the love of pockets.  So I have plans to pick up some stitches around the front and create one, which shouldn't be too hard.  He's worn it once and looked ridiculously handsome in it. 

So we'll see.  I try to nudge him to wear it on occasion, without being overly forceful.   But the kid has his own mind about clothing choices.

*I looked it up - it's a town in Ireland.