Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I Just Can't Let Go

A few months ago, I had a skein of heather grey yarn in my stash. I liked the way it felt, the way it smelled, the way it looked...and I had many ideas for what I could do with it. A hat? No, I had a stash of fingering weight yarn in several colors that I was planning to make hats with. I got out my purple binder that my husband affectionately calls the knitting bible. In it are all the patterns I have accumulated over the years of knitting I have enjoyed, and I leafed through the pages waiting for a pattern to jump out at me and proclaim that it would look wonderful in this soft, heather grey yarn. Finally I found it. Knitting Pure and Simple #982. It's a neck down cardigan with an optional hood. I had made it once before with three skeins of Plymouth Jelly Beanz yarn and the little girl I made it for wears it regularly and looks adorable to boot. My vision for this sweater was a simple one, yet it made me really excited. I wanted a simple cardigan to throw on Daniel on those days where he doesn't need his big winter coat, but still needs something to keep him warm. Yeah, I know, he has more hooded sweatshirts than most kids would know what to do with, but I don't know for a fact that there is mommy love in each of those stitches. In this grey cardigan that was born on my knitting needles and worked with love and care by my hands, there is a lot of love adding warmth to the inches of fabric. I debated if I wanted to knit in the round for a faster knit and cut a steek, or go back and forth. I opted to go back and forth, and for those of you who know the knitter in me, you know that for some reason I can't explain, I don't like to purl. So this was an interesting choice, but I'm happy I made it. Once I got through the cast on and about 2 inches and the increases, I put it away for awhile and didn't give it that much thought for a few weeks. When I would be in between projects I would pick it up and the quick silver needles that I bought to make my first sweater long ago would again click as stitch by stitch the sweater continued to grow. About a week ago I realized that I was probably pretty close to being ready to start the ribbing for the bottom, and then the sleeves would come....then the button band...and the neck band...and then I would be done. For some reason that made me sad. I worked the right sleeve and decided to break up the sleeve knitting by doing the button band next, and then the collar. I decided to leave the hood off because the last sweater made with this pattern had a hood and I really thought it looked super cute without it as well. So I got through the button band on both sides. The holes and button markers matched, and then I did the neck band. I looked at the neck band for a few days and suddenly ripped the whole thing out because of one row of rib that I had messed up. It was un necessary to do that but then I realized that I was enjoying this sweater so much, my sub- conscience had taken over and I realized that I was relishing in this knitting project and only then did I realize my very real love of this craft. Normally I am so excited to come to a bind off row and wash and block whatever I am making, but for some reason this was different. I had experimented with different types of needles and learned a lot about myself as a knitter through this project. The collar is so good now and I just need to finish the sleeve and sew in loose ends. Then I will wash and block it and my beautiful son will wear it with pride, I hope, but I have a feeling it will be too hot for a sweater by the time I finally let go of this project and bind it off for real this time.

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