Edith with golden hair

When my Grandma Jackson was born, her parents had a certain, unknown, name picked out for her.  In our church, early in a baby's life, a priesthood holder, usually the baby's father, gives the child a priesthood blessing, where they offer the baby's name for the records of the church.  In 1912, in the southern Alberta Mormon community of Hillspring, that occasion was more than official enough to be the finite naming ceremony of any child.  In any case, on the morning that my Grandma was to be named the name that her parents had picked, my great-grandfather sat in the church pew between his two older sons, waiting for the moment in the service where he would go up and name his youngest daughter and give her a priesthood blessing.  Those two boys had decided that they knew better what their baby sister should be named, and while the other orders of business were being conducted in the meeting, they sat, reciting over and over the words to a Longfellow poem, "The Children's Hour" into their father's ears. When their father got up to give the blessing, and proceeded to state the name of his newborn daughter, he could not remember the name that he and his wife had picked, and could only remember the words of the poem:

"From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair."

And, with only the names from the poem in his head, he gave my grandma the name Edythe Allegra instead.  Grandma was always so proud of her name, and loved the story of how her brothers had named her.  If the little one inside me is a SHE, she will be named after her great-grandma.  She will be Edythe.  

And so, when I designed my first knit sweater, I just had to name it after my grandma.  I've shown a few pictures of the sweater, and here it is, in all it's finality!  I have learned a whole lot knitting this sweater, and writing up the pattern.  I had twelve amazing women who tested my pattern and helped me through the process. Doing the test was so much fun, and my testers so willing to help.  Who knew that knitting could be such an international experience: of the twelve there were one each from Belgium, Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal, the Ukraine, England, and from Canada, two from Norway, and three from the US.  That's crazy!  You can check out their incredible work by going to the pattern page on Ravelry, then clicking on the projects on the right hand side of the page.  I can't thank these women enough.


I am currently NOT knitting anything new before the baby arrives, but I do have several other designs in my head, seeing as how this one was so much fun!

If you are interested in the pattern, it can be on Ravelry, or on Craftsy, as a PDF download, which will magically arrive in your inbox just as soon as you buy it. You can also just click here:   You will love it, I promise!