A Sweater Story...Chapter 1: The Obsessive Swatcher.

I'm really bad with dates. Which I find kind of amusing, as I have a BA in history. I usually don't keep track of my projects, like when I started them and when I finished them etc. I just knit and eventually a completed item emerges. I think I like it this way, as I don't get bogged down by deadlines (not terribly often anyway) or with how long a project is dragging on. I live in this blissful little world of time suspension. Come to think of it, I live most of my life this way. Stuff just happens and time passes and it's all a wonderful surprise to me....

*pauses, floats away...*

Anyway, I would actually like to know exactly how long it will take me to knit this...



Pattern shown on the cover there is not the one I am knitting, but it is in that issue of the magazine. This is going to be for my sister-in-law, hereafter known as SIL. No need to do any stealth knitting here as she requested a black cardigan and left the rest of the creative process up to me. I'll keep the pattern a secret for the time being, as I'd like that part at least to be a bit of a surprise.

I've gotten a wee bit obsessive about this project, as I'd really really like the finished item to be, well, good. Knitting baby sweaters is one thing. If they're too big, they'll fit eventually, and even at that, the fit is not incredibly important. It just needs to be functional and comfortable. If there are a few teeny mistakes, at least the wearer is never, ever going to notice or much less care. And that amount of yarn is an investment you're not too heartbroken over if it doesn't work out as perfectly as you had imagined.

Adult sweaters are another story entirely. Fit is everything. Mistakes will be noticed by the wearer and everyone the wearer comes in contact with. Yarn investment and composition are of paramount concern. Pattern choices need to be appropriate and hopefully flattering. I've been dying to start sweater knitting, serious, adult sweater knitting since I began playing with sticks and strings, but wanted to build up my technique on smaller projects first. I'm confident about my technique now. It's just the unpredictable nature of the finished object that has me a little freaked.

At any rate, I've been swatching for a week now. Gauge swatches up the wazoo, going back and forth between needles sizes, trying to determine which would be the best choice for the pattern and for the fit of someone who isn't here to try it on at various stages. I pretty much have to wing it. I've also been cable swatching. There is a bit of cable detailing, which I love, but OMG, do you think I could get this dern sample to co-operate? I swear it took me five tries before I could do two repeats without completely screwing it up and confusing myself in the process.

Anyhow, all of this is a terribly long winded way of saying that I finally made decisions on needles size, yarn, and pattern and cast on today. So I guess today is day one. We shall see how things progress.

Stay tuned...