Immediate Gratification

Here it is, the first of two American Girl Doll sweaters. And they are an immediate gratification project, although I don't know how gratified I am. There's a bit of a notch or something on the sleeve on the left where it is sewn into the sweater, and I'm not entirely happy with the neckband. The directions don't specify how many stitches to pick up along the neckline. They just trust the knitter to figure it out. Right...

I had a problem sewing in the sleeve on the right, and as a result, there is a little puckering, but not as much as there was before I blocked it a bit. When my mother taught me how to sew, she referred to the process of putting in a set-in sleeve as "worrying it in," and that was right. I can't really say precisely how that worked, but I think the knitting version is about the same, along with a great deal of faith in the magic of blocking.

The second sweater, which I am making in garter stitch, is already on the needles, so I hope to have both ready to mail out to Hermoine and Ginny, maybe on Saturday.