Waiting for Spring Sweater

So my sweater is finally finished. That was a lot of work, and the seaming and weaving ends was tedious. I'm happy with how it turned out overall, though there is something I might go back and fix if I feel up to it at some point. The body worked up more sheer than I would have liked, but the white yarn was a bit thinner than the red, making it near impossible the get the same kind of coverage without changing needle size and gauge. Increasing the stitches (and doing the math for it) was more work than I was willing to give it at the beginning.

The pieces came together well; this pattern is a bottom-up, worked in the round piece that made the whole project that much easier. The only seams were at the shoulders and where the sleeves meet the body. I would like to take the sleeves off and reseam them. That may or may not actually get done, the sweater is wearable as it is, the sleeve caps just bunch up around the front and top. Not a difficult fix, but it would be time-consuming.

All told, it was a learning piece that was completed well. I certainly have a bit more of a handle on how sweaters come together and will probably get another one started before too long. I've got some yarn in a nice color that someone gifted me while cleaning out her stash. There should be plenty to make a sweater with what she gave me.

If anyone is interested in the pattern for this sweater it is free. Waiting for Spring Here is a link to the Ravelry page where you can look at other peoples photos of the sweater and download it for yourself.

Goals for the New Year

With both the calendar and the lunar new year begun I feel like it is appropriate to mention some of the goals I'm trying to meet during this upcoming year. First is a reading goal, I've been giving myself a reading goal of 50 books per year for the last several years; and (with the help of some quick reads like comics) have been able to meet those so far in my life. I'm currently on track with those but have really not been reading anything of actual substance so far.

As for knitting or otherwise crafting during the new year, I mostly want to set specific goals to finish projects that I have had ongoing for some time. I have a scarf in a nylon sock yarn blend I want to finish and a shawl in a beautiful silk and wool blend that I bought from a hand dyeing artisan last January. That particular project is about halfway finished; a one-skein wonder project.

The one I am most determined to complete is the sweater I have been attempting to complete for 4 years now. This is the first sweater I have ever made. The process has been ... rocky. I started with a cabled pattern that was beyond what I really should have tried for a first attempt.

The sleeves I just finished in the photo here, are actually a second try. You see, because I purchased the yarn for a different pattern, I did not have the right amount of the main color. When I finished the shoulder of the first sleeve I had less than half enough yarn for the next sleeve. So I frogged the first sleeve, divided the yarn in half, and restarted on the pair.

In my experience with knitting, I have almost always found that it takes three restarts to get a new technique looking competently done. This sweater has been no exception, with the body started and restarted, then the pattern changed, then the body started and restarted, then the arms frogged and restarted. This sweater has been a learning process and I'm finally almost finished. (knock on wood, no more big flubs.)

I'll talk about the gauging some other time. That's a whole other kind of process that I have feelings about, as most knitters do. For now, all I have left is connecting the sleeves and finishing the collar. I'll be using the dark red for that, adding a turtleneck style collar instead of the shorter, garter stitch collar the pattern calls for.

Alternate Options

I know I haven't posted anything here in a long time. That doesn't mean I haven't been crafting though! In fact, I've been doing a lot of embroidery in the last year or so and have really enjoyed it. Also learned a lot about stitching...
Anyway here's where I've been posting most of my recent photos: Artsome Things!

I'll try to start updating here more often. I've got some things I definitely want to get done this year and will share as I continue.