Finally

Fitting that this is the first day of Autumn and I am showcasing my first autumn knit. A sweater for my daughter.

This is the Girlfriend Swing Coat by Wendy Bernard. A very quick knit with sizing from 2 to 10. I will definitely be making it again when she has outgrown this one. The top is actually hooked together with a hook and eye and a button to cover it up.

I am jumping into this season with both feet as many of you seem to be doing. I hunkered down this last week nursing a cold of my own, two sick children, and a husband also under the weather. We wore sweats and snuggled in blankets with the curtains drawn....you see it was 92 degrees outside, complete with birds chirping and nary a cloud. Not quite hunkering down weather but we're ready so I think we are just going to will it to be colder.

The changes I made were minimal. I did a garter stitch band on the ends of the sleeves and bottom of the coat. To match I made the collar all garter stitch as well. I had originally planned to do an attached i-cord around the coat and collar (my first) but it didn't work out. I kept attaching it too tightly or something and the sweater would pucker. After an embarrassing amount of attempts to get it right I gave up and redid the collar, cuffs, and bottom of the coat with the garter stitch which, now that it is finished, I love.

It definitely swings as the pattern name suggests and is going to be a great addition to her fall sweater collection. I knit it using Knit Picks Swish Superwash which turned really soft after washing it. I washed it on delicate in the washing machine and then laid it out to dry.

And of course now that she's five she really can't sit still for long because she is "much busier now that she's older". Getting her to to sit still for photos was hard because, "doesn't it just look so much better when I'm running?"

And she's off. Happy first day of Autumn to all of you!