Knit everything twice - Mix and Match Sweater

This summer, Mina Phillip (@knittingexpat) asked if I would be interested in test knitting a baby sweater she had designed. I've test knit for her before, and she knows I have little ones, so I am pretty sure that's why I got the ask.

The pattern was released last month, the lovely Mix and Match Sweater.

I of course, being a mmother of twins, knit it twice.

The pattern is titled Mix and Match, because Mina provides options for plain stockinette or textured sweaters, short or long sleeves, and with or without short row shaping around the neck and hem. The brown one I knit first, with short in both places, but didn't love them in the back of the neck, so I only did the short row shaping on the hem for the green one.

I knit mine from some Lion Brand Yarn Hearland in Kings Canyon (green) and Sequoia (Brown) click those links for the project pages. I thought acryclic would make for easy to wash sweaters, and to be fair, I didn't want to invest in more expensive yarn for a test knit. I used about a skein and a half of each and picked them up on sale at Micheals.

This past weekend I dressed the boys up all cute and took the out to play in the yard and try to grab some cute photos showing off their little sweaters. Some turned out great.

Others not so much. That's Dom at the wheel, making that face becaus his brother is trying to fit in the car behind him.

They do play together nice sometimes tho.

How to steam block acrylic knits.

I have to say it.

I'm a sucker for exciting acrylic yarns.

You know the ones you see at Walmart or Micheals, that either have a unique texture, or fabulous colours. And you can still buy a whole project's worth for less than $20.

But sometimes, the finished knit needs a little extra help. And you can't just wet block it the way you could with a wool knit.

Red Heart has a newish line of 'Boutique' yarns, and although I was able to resist grabbing a couple balls of the Unforgettable the first 4 or 5 times I saw them. I eventually caved and came home with enough to knit the Lafayette Shawl (designed by Julie Farmer) featured on the ball bands.

You can find the pattern page on Ravelry by clicking here.

And I went with the Dragonfly colour way, cause I just couldn't say no to those blues and purples. (See all of the Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable colours here).

It took about 1 and a half balls to knit, but the finished shawl looked great. Problem was, it definitely needed to be blocked, all that stockinette just doesn't want to lie flat.

So I got out my handy dandy clothing steamer, and went to town.

Check out how I did it!