The Sweater Project: Keep Moving Forward

This week as I worked on the yarn for my handspun sweater project, I was reminded of a quote from Walt Disney (as featured in one of my favorite Disney movies, "Meet the Robinsons"):

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
–Walt Disney

 I often think of this quote in terms of my business and my crafting. Sometimes things just don't work out the way we want them to, and we just have to keep going. That's what has happened with my sweater project.

I spun my first skein of yarn and I got this:

It's a really pretty skein, and I like it a lot. Unfortunately, though, after using up approximately 20% of my singles this skein was only 55 yards bulky weight. I was worried I wouldn't have enough yarn to make any kind of a sweater at that rate.

Turns out, I was right. I finished spinning all the singles and I got this:

It looks like a lot of yarn, and it is, depending on the perspective. It's about 15oz of bulky weight yarn, but it comes in at only 268 yards. Not enough for a full-sized sweater.

I was pretty bummed about that for a little while, but then I remembered that I still had this yarn in my stash:

This is 880 yards of worsted/aran yarn that I dyed myself to use for a capelet. I decided instead that I'm going to make it into a sweater. I'm planning to knit Rusted Root with this yarn.

The other yarn will still have a purpose, never fear! I think I'm going to knit Shrug This with it or maybe the smaller version of Liesl. If I don't get around to it for a while there may even be another pattern that speaks to me even more. So I'm not at all worried about it.

I'm just going to keep moving forward - you never know what fun adventures you might find when you do that! :)

New Year, New Sweater, New Skill(s)!

Hello all!

I hope you had a wonderful New Year! Mine was tame, which is just how I like it.

Lots of bloggers are writing posts about resolutions and goals. I'll leave that to them. For today I just have ONE goal I'm thinking about, and that is:

In 2012 I will knit myself a sweater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew. Okay. I'm glad we got that settled.

Ok, so this year I'm knitting a sweater. I'm going to spin the yarn for it, so I don't want to spend too much time obsessing over potential patterns, because I will become very disappointed if the yarn I spin isn't enough to make one of those sweaters.

However, I do have plenty of sweaters I've been ogling, so I thought I'd give them a shout-out here in this post. Maybe one of them will be just the thing you needed to see in order to commit to your OWN sweater-knitting goal this year!

First up, let me just say that I would knit virtually ANY sweater designed by Wendy Bernard. I love her designs! In particular I've had Somewhat Cowl (a lovely, drapey-necked short sleeved, fitted option) and Something Red (a cute, smallish cardigan) in my queue for quite some time. I think I would do well with either of these patterns for my sweater because it's going to be a very colorful yarn, so having a simple stitch pattern in the sweater will help the yarn steal the show. However, both of these use fairly thin yarns so I probably won't be able to spin that weight out of a 3ply yarn from batts. Ugh.

Since my yarn will likely be bulky, I love Jane Richmond's Cozy Bolero. Honestly, though it's called a bolero, it counts as a sweater in my book (Give me a little break, will you? It's my first sweater!). I love pretty much all of Jane Richmond's patterns, too, so if I'm very lucky my yardage and gauge will work out for me to knit at least one of them. I figure at the very least I'll have enough yarn to knit Bazan, right?!?

If I have a lot of yardage, I really like the structure and comfortable style of Grown-Up Hoodie by fellow Phat Fiber Artist Kira Dulaney. That project would also give me a chance to practice with cables, YAY for new skills! I also really love the style of the Military Cardigan by Jessika Ava; I'm hoping that the double-breasted style of it might also help me hide those extra pounds that I haven't managed to shed yet this year, LOL! She also has an awesome faux cardigan pattern - yay for not bunching open around "the girls," huzzah!

In case I don't get much yardage, I really like the Vine Lace Vest pattern (which, again, is more of a sweater than a vest in my book). It has a pretty lace pattern and would be good for most of our seasons down here in the South. I also like $5 in Paris, because it's simple and I can probably knit it shorter if need be in case I don't get a lot of yardage.

My final pattern option, for now at least, is Abalone. I really love the interesting structure of this open cardigan; I think of it like knitting a shawl that will actually stay on and keep your shoulders warm! Plus, it was designed for handspun and I'm going to KNIT with handspun, so it very well could be Sweater Kismet for me!

I hope you'll follow along with me on my sweater knitting adventures this month. I plan to start spinning the yarn very soon, so I'll keep you updated with my progress on that and then of course final pattern selection and actual knitting.

The lovely fiber that will eventually be a sweater. And it's all MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

Would YOU like to knit a sweater with me? Visit my Ravelry Group to find a whole bunch of knitters who will be knitting AND crocheting sweaters of all shapes and sizes; newbies and veterans alike!

Don't have the yarn for a sweater? I can help you with that:

- 4 skeins of yarn
- 5 skeins of yarn
- 1 pound of roving/top
- 20 oz of roving top
Each of these options comes with FREE yarn or fiber with the purchase! Who can pass up on a deal like that?!?

I'm going to keep the sweater-along going for a while, but the option to purchase your sweater yarn or fiber from me ends on January 10th. That's ONE WEEK from today. So get shopping! You deserve something nice for yourself this year!

2012: A Sweater Odyssey

Hahahahaha, I crack myself up. ;)

Anyway, seriously. In 2012 I WILL KNIT A SWEATER!!!!!!

There, I've said it. All bold and stuff, and even with all caps. That means I have to do it!

Sometimes, I need accountability for things. I have wanted to knit myself a sweater for, well, pretty much as long as I've been a knitter. And yet I've never done it! This must be remedied.

This year I'm going to knit a sweater. I'm even going to spin the fiber to make into yarn to knit the sweater! See? I've got the fiber right here:

Those lovely batts will become a 3ply yarn (another first for me, believe it or not) which will become a sweater. Of some kind. I refuse to go too far into pattern browsing until I know the yardage.

Anyway, would you like to join me? Maybe 2012 can be the year YOU knit or crochet a sweater, too! Whether it's your first sweater or your 100th, I'd love for us to share our sweater stitching progress together. I've started a thread in my Ravelry group for just this type of purpose, and there are already several people joining in and planning their sweater projects. Come join us!

There is NO requirement that you use my yarns/fibers to make your sweater. However, I am offering some pretty sweet deals if you choose to do so. For instance:
- Get 16oz of fiber for the price of 12oz
- Get 20oz of fiber for the price of 16oz
- Get 4 skeins of yarn for the price of 3 skeins
- Get 5 skeins of yarn for the price of 4 skeins

I really hope you'll stitch along with us in 2012!

Before you leave, leave me a comment! What are some of YOUR yarn-related goals for the new year?