Jumping in with both feet...

You ever get that nagging feeling that just won't go away until you do something about it? Well I've had that feeling for the past few days. I started to feel stalled on my current knitting project, mainly because I don't want to seam it yet to see how I would like to attach the sleeves. I know it'll be a really cute sweater once it's done, but I guess I just don't have the drive to finish it right now...So for me that meant absolutely no knitting for about a week (utter craziness for me, I'm usually never without a project!)

So I've had this design idea floating around in my head, ever since I had started my love affair with the Shapely Boyfriend Cardigan ( I kid you not, I've already made 4 and have plans for at least another 5 or so...ha!). I have a leftover skein of Sprout in the Vivid Fuschia colorway from my Pebble Beach top and have 5 skeins in the Summer Rain colorway that were supposed to grow up to be the Manana Cardigan. However, that's the problem with impulse buying based on a trunk show...I bought the booklet for the yarn, bought the yarn to make the top and two different cardigans, made a cardigan (that I really don't wear anymore) made the top, really am not in love with it (sometimes bulky yarns just don't work for bustier gals), have been pondering if I really want to make the cardigan (which I decided I didn't)...so what's a girl to do?

I've been spending time on ravelry (if I'm not knitting I might as well at least be looking at knitting), looking at different cardigan styles and stripe patterns and weights of yarn used, and then decided that the only way to have a sweater made out of that bulky yarn is to make it myself!

So last night I pulled out my notebooks, my gauge check, knitting needles, yarn and my Custom Knits book and got to work. I started off with my gauge swatch, checked my stitches to the inch (normally I should have washed my swatch, but I've made other garments with this yarn and found that my gauge doesn't change too much after the knitting is washed), did some measuring and calculations based on the instructions in the book and got to it! It's really not much right now, just a few rows and scribbles in a notebook. I am, however, determined to keep my notebook up to date with my pattern info, because who knows, this could be the beginning of something!

Wait...it's almost May???

So...I do not know where this year has went so far. What I do know is that I have been crazy busy with life and knitting...I haven't gotten as much knitting done as I would like...but still a decent amount (most of my friends still say that I knit like crazy...). I've completed three cardigans, a short sleeve summer sweater, a tank top and am currently working on a cardigan for a coworker, and a short sleeve cardigan for myself.

May will be bringing warmer temperatures and also a good chunk of knitting time. I will be spending a lot of time at home in PA with my mom, so that should produce a few completed projects.

So here are links to my finished projects so far:
Cardigan #1 - Boyfriend of Coffee and Sea
Cardigan #2 - A girl can never have too many boyfriends
Cardigan #3 - I love my neon boyfriend!
Sweater #1 - Fuschia Pebbles
Summer Tank - Birthday Helio

Not bad for almost four months into the year...probably by the end of the month I'll have my coworkers sweater finished and be well underway on my spring cardigan!

Sweater #1 is Done!

My first official (meaning started) sweater in 2012 is finished! I love love love this sweater, the yarn that I picked to make it, and the pattern! I love the pattern so much that I'm planning on making at least three more sweaters! This one is my teal and brown stripe (My coworker actually thought that I bought it at the Gap!). The next one I'll make will be either navy and fuschia stripe, gray and pink (or purple) or my plain black one. Haven't decided yet. I have other sweaters in the works so the other two may not get made right away.

I'm currently almost halfway done with a baby sweater for friends who just had their first girl after having two boys, so I'm working on a pink and purple mix baby sweater. Once that is done I'll need to start on a baby boy sweater for another set of friends that just had their third child, second boy. I already have the buttons I'll be using, so I'll just need to pick up a few skeins of yarn to match and get cracking! Plus I need to work on more orders, so I'll be pretty busy for the next few weeks.

My next sweater that I'll be starting will probably be Adelina by Amy Herzog. I've had the yarn and pattern for a while now...(see, I'm destashing!) and since the weather is perfect for sweaters, I'm looking forward to get my gauge swatch made up and get moving!

The next cardigan on the needles for me will be Tembo by Carol Feller. I'll probably be making some slight modifications to this cardigan, but I'm excited to have one that will fit me properly! The one that I'm currently wearing that's similar in style I've had for over a decade and it's huge on me! But it is nice for lounging around my apartment!

All set for 2012

My ravelry queue is organized and I'm ready to get knitting on all my projects for 2012. I have 12 sweaters and 24 cardigans that I would love to make, but I might be weeding down even further once I get going...

First up is the Shapely Boyfriend cardigan that I fell in love with from the Knitty Deep Fall 2011 pattern set. I'm making mine out of Berroco Comfort, and using two colors (Agean See and Coffeeberry Heather) to do some fun stripes. I'm less than 20 rows away from splitting for the sleeves, top down raglans do go quickly! Plus size 9 needles definitely are helping. :) I may need to pick up some more yarn from Linda as I didn't have my stripe sequence clearly planned out when I started, but we'll see. I should have just enough of the Agean Sea color to work everything needed for the body, and all the edging will be done in the Coffeeberry Heather color (which I have more than enough of). Buttons will be repurposed from a store bought sweater that is miles too big on me, but match the yarn perfectly. :) Love it when things fall in to place so easily for knitting!

Okay, back to work I go...knitting and packing, dinner and movies planned for tonight, then home to Pennsylvania early tomorrow morning until Sunday afternoon/evening. Fun weekend ahead!

Resolutions

I know every year there's tons of resolutions out there, both knitting and non-knitting related...

So to recap for 2011:
- This was the year that I lost weight (50+ pounds and counting), so that's not a real resolution for me in 2012. I'll be staying on track on Weight Watchers, hoping to hit my goal and become a lifetime member in the next month or so. I'm happy where I am weight-wise, and people I saw at Christmas (that I haven't seen in a while) told me how fabulous I look, so that's definitely something to put a smile on my face!
- This was the year that I found an awesome knitting family at Stitches with Style, and I had a blast getting to know people and gaining more confidence with my mad knitting skills!
- This was the year that I took my first vacation by myself! I went to Whitehead Light Station in Rockland, Maine and I absolutely loved every second of it! I can't wait to go back again in 2012!
- This was the year that I spent without a date. Hahaha. I've been single for a while and I love my life, but it's kinda crazy to think that I went a whole year without even going out to dinner or to the movies with someone! Hopefully that will change in 2012!
- This was the year that I moved out of a horrible living situation into my own apartment, and boy do I love having my own space again!
- This was the year that I met some absolutely fantastic designers in the knitting world, and it definitely gives me something to think about for my future and some things that I hope to accomplish in 2012!

All things considered 2011 was a good year, ups and downs, but without the downs you can't appreciate the ups.

So on to 2012...
- This year I plan on supercharging my knitting life with a LOT of new projects, new designs, new colors, new techniques.
- This year I will do some serious stash-busting. I know that knitters say all the time that they need to go on yarn diets, but I DEFINITELY need to go on one!
- This year I will get some of my knitting UFO's done!
- This year I will go out on a date! Hopefully!
- This year I will blog more! I enjoy reading other people's blogs, so hopefully there are people that enjoy reading mine as well!

So to start for 2012 I have my ravelry queue packed and semi-sorted with new projects. Cardigans, sweaters, vests...definitely can't wait to get started. The cold weather is just starting to hit Delaware, and I only have a sleeve and collars to work on my current sweater project, so I'm hoping to have it done this weekend! :)

NaKniSweMo is Done!

I was very happy that I was able to finish my NaKniSweMo sweater...and I didn't just finish on time either, I finished early and wore it to both of the Thanksgiving dinners I attended! It was fabulous and I'm so in love with the sweater!

The color is somewhere in between the colors in the pictures. It's a fantastic teal color. I'll have to find a friend to take some pics of me out in the sunshine so you can see what it really looks like. Hands down I love it though! Most complicated project so far!

Counting, Counting, Counting...

Have you ever taken a sweater and actually calculated the number of stitches that you knit? I never really thought about it before joining NaKniSweMo this year. I've been keeping track so far and I'm 10,920 stitches in already...It feels crazy knowing that I've already knit that many stitches! The minimum mark to hit it 50,000, so knowing that it's only November 5th and I'm a fifth of the way there makes me happy...I'm about an inch or two away from starting waist shaping too, that's always a happy goal to hit when knitting a sweater!

Back to knitting!