Sweater Knitter Wannabe

I have knit alot of things in the 7 years I've been knitting. Toys, washcloths, towels, socks (socks, socks and more socks), lace, hats, mittens, etc. The one thing that I have to actually finish, and be able to wear proudly, is a sweater. Not for lack of effort, for sure. I currently have 3 sweaters on the needles. Nice, easy patterns, straight knit or stockinette. I thought when I cast them on, that my first sweaters should be simple, so that I might actually complete them. Did I set myself up for failure? While I have these 3 sweaters on the needles, I also have about 5 pairs of socks on the needles. 2 of which are stockinette. 1 of these pairs has been on the needles for about a year and a half now, while the other 3 that are patterned area all coming along nicely. Stockinette.....boring! That said....why an entire sweater in stockinette?

During the late summer, I cast on for Iced by Carol Feller. Knit in a bulky weight yarn, I knit the body of this sweater in something like 4 days. Then there was the knit collar. Here, I got stuck. Seemed like it took me forever to knit this 6 inches. Once I cast off, I was tickled, all I have left are sleeves! Until I try it on. The 6 inches of knit is about 4 inches longer than the sweater (I couldn't tell while on the needles, since it was on a circular needle). OUCH! I obviously picked up too many stitches along the edge of the body. Now I have to go back and rip the blasted thing out. My tendency in the past would be to just put this aside and try a different sweater at another time. However, I love this yarn, and the simplicity of the pattern, and if I'm every going to knit another sweater, I really should be able to Ice this baby!

My First Design!

When I started knitting 7 years ago, my ambition really, was to design. While I've made several attempts, truth be told, I hadn't knit enough to really learn how to manipulate the stitches to design. While there is still a long way to go to become a well versed designer, I did just publish my first design, Hope Grows. It's a breast cancer awareness sock pattern, knit from the toe up. As was the case with cable and lace knitting, I was quite intimidated by the toe up construction initially, and looked at it from afar for about 2 years. Now that I've done it, I think it's my sock knitting structure of choice. Much less waste!

Proceeds from the sale of this pattern thus far, will be going to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure. I'm thrilled to say this pattern has been well received, and has already contributed $100 to my fundraising goal!

I've got several more designs floating around in my head....feeling particularly motivated now to finally get them on paper :-)