This sweater gets around!

In the spirit of my so-called Finish It Fall, Henry's Tomten is D-O-N-E done. This sweater was particularly hard for me, not because of any particular knitting technique or the miles and miles of Elizabeth Zimmermann garter stitch, but because of what it represented. I started planning the Tomten when -- and this is not something I've talked about publically because it's been painful for our little family and yet thankfully much ado about nothing -- when the then-Toddler started manifesting some autism spectrum behaviors and wasn't progressing in his language. I let the Toddler choose the yarn, thinking it would be a really stimulating activity for him to choose his favorite color of "WED." I knit on this thing through the seemingly interminable wait for evaluations and appointments. Somehow, all my stress about my child got put into this sweater.

Then we received the diagnosis of "just" a speech delay. Today, the Preschooler is a happy, healthy, quirky three year old who has "graduated" from his months of speech therapy. I think I've graduated too.

I finally finished the sleeves last month, and then handed it over to Yvonne for seaming and zipper installation. (Have I mentioned how much I love Yvonne?). The Tomten, otherwise known as Red! Red Sweater!, has gone everywhere and done everything, and for that, I am so happy and grateful.

PS: It's