The Knitting Factory

I finished Emma's sweater and her American Girl doll's sweater, hat, skirt, shoes and Teddy Bear's sweater. I'll finish her hat sometime this week, I hope. Maggie's AG doll's outfit is finished and I'm working on Maggie's sweater. I just have to knit the sleeves. I love my knitter!

The dolls' clothes were knitted by hand. I tried to do them on the knitter, but they were too small. It was easier to do them by hand, even if it took longer.

Maggie and Emma know about the sweaters and hats I'm making for them, but they don't know about the American Girl dolls or the clothes. I think they'll be pleasantly surprised!

The girls picked out their own yarn colors. Emma's is this pretty lime green and Maggie chose a beautiful blue mint. I thought by adding a little of the other's color to each sweater, it would be a constant reminder of her sister. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not. I think they'll look really cute standing next to each other.

When I started, I made the dolls' sweaters first. My intention was to use the stripe on the sweater front, back and on each sleeve. That's what I did with the dolls' sweaters. When I started Emma's sweater, I made the stripe on the front and back as intended. I was latching up the ribbing on the first sleeve when I realized I had forgotten the stripe! Yikes! There was no way on God's green earth that I was going to rip out an entire sleeve and start over.

When using a knitting machine, the sleeve is started by picking up stitches at the shoulder and knitting down to the ribbing. The ribbing is formed by dropping every third stitch and latching it back up. When you've done the ribbing and bound off the stitches, you're finished. Just the opposite when hand knitting. Kara suggested that I just put the stripe on one sleeve, but I gently declined her suggestion.