Monday, June 8, 2009

I Got a Fever:

Ohhh Lawdy, I've been bitten hard.

Sweaters. I must make more. Better ones. Cuter ones. Cardigans and pullovers both.

My first foray into the land of AdultSweaterWorld was a very poorly adapted attempt. I'm not even gonna sugar coat it: I made a baby sweater and then thought "pshaw, lemme just cast on more stitches, using a COMPLETELY different yarn and needle size, and eye ball the thing. I'm smart, so this should go swimmingly!"

You'd think I would have learned by now my whole "eyeballing" inability.

It's so hideous that it will never touch the light of my ravelry projects page! Badbadbadbadembarrasinglybad. But, I learned some techniques and absolutely learned from the experience . . .

Until the next time I cast on for a sweater :blush:

This one was via an actual Adult Sized Sweater Pattern, even. My Radiate (from knitty.com) Did I follow it? Since this is my blog, and ME we're talking about, you can safely answer "oh hell no." No swatch and liberal application of casting on stitches with zero regard to pattern sizing. Hi! I'm ajdury and I apparently don't learn from my mistakes!

Again, I learned some things (outside of how much of a dummy I am) but the nail in this sweater's coffin was that my 4 skeins are comprised of two different dye-lots. Before this sweater even started, I missed two opportunities to notice that little fact :blushingredder: Hi! I'm ajdury and I can't even be bothered to read ball bands!

I may be a damn dummy, and I may be doing things the hard way, but! I'm 98% done with my third, and final, "First Adult Sweater" and can't stop thinking about the next one to get on the needles.

This last one is (again with my inability to strictly follow a very well-written, well-executed and so good it doesn't need MY interpretation added to it) the fabulous Tomato sweater (originally on knitty.com).

My husband (who has witnessed every good/bad/inbetween thing I've ever knitted) and my two friends Alex and Sheila have all said very nice things about it. Hell, even I like it!

For now it's the best sweater I've knit to-date, but it won't be the best sweater I've ever knitted.

The sweater bug has bit me hard and all I can think about is making a better one next time, and an even better one after that.

I'm so smitten with sweaters that I'm going to do the following: 1) Swatch (don't faint), 2) follow directions (get off the floor!) 3) seriously consider a "pieced" sweater pattern (don't MAKE me get the defibrillator out!)

Whadda ya think about THAT? :bigproudcheesygrin:

4 comments:

Puttermeister said...

Boy, are you courageous! Once more into the breech, my friend.

(Safe to say, I think we might be opposites when it comes to knitting personalities. I've made as many as five or six gauge swatches....)

You give me courage!

Anonymous said...

Aw, yes.....the sweater bug after knitting your first successful sweater....happens to the best of us doesn't it??!!

Congrats.....the world is your knitted oyster now..

Suzanne said...

Just wait until you have to start buying more dressers to store your sweaters.

Sounds like you are doing quite well on the learning curve.

Anonymous said...

Found your blog on Ravelry and had a good laugh. Um, I'm not a faithful swatcher either. Good luck on your sweater binge! I know how that feels!