knit a sweater for myself

Well, the olympics are over, despite the fact that I still have some of it Tivo’ed. I got about 8 inches knit on the body of my sweater, and considering the state of my life right now that’s pretty darn good. Because I’ve made significant progress and I feel the momentum building I went ahead and ordered the rest of the yarn for the sweater. I need the black yarn in particular because I am going to deviate from the pattern a bit and make the sleeves with ribbed cuffs instead of the rolled edge. The neckline is a mock turtle and the edge of that ribbing is done with 2 rows of black. I like that look and I think doing the same at the cuffs will unify the sweater. I want to be able to push up the sleeves – I’ve got kids and need to wash my hands a lot.

I also did something a bit silly. I use stitch markers a lot, even on a simple sweater like this. Even on plain stockinette I will use one to mark the beginning of the round. I anticipated using a few more stitch markers for this project as well as a row counter to keep the arms even. I have discovered that using nice quality tools matters greatly to my motivation. I am much more inclined to knit on Addi turbos with nice yarn than with Susan Bates on inexpensive yarn. So I decided that I wanted nice stitch markers, too. I went on eBay and they are not cheap! I have done some beading so I know that the cost is justified by the amount of time it takes, but I feel guilty spending that money when I know I could buy everything I need including pliers and cutters for the same price. So, that’s what I did – bought the materials. I have more than enough to make a complete set, but for now I have only made 4 as well as a row counter. I wish the counter itself were a color other than red, but beggars can’t be choosers and it is an esthetic improvement over the commercially available circular row counter, which is tough to find in brick-and-mortar stores anyway. I have been using one marker that I made, and it gives me a goofy thrill every time I come around to it. What can I say? I’m a cheap date.

I really do like the way the markers came out. I could see doing more of these, although I’m not sure what I’ll do with an abundance of stitch markers. I love those Russian lace shawls, but I’m not crazy enough to attempt one of them any time soon, and an aran sweater is out of the question for the same reason – temporary lack of brain power.

Oddly enough, someone knit the very sweater I am knitting and it is up for sale on eBay. They did it with a crew style neck which I don’t like as well, but the photo is nice because it shows the colors and the yoke pattern very well – better than in the Reynolds Lopi booklet. I grabbed a screen shot of it – I guess I will have to bite the bullet and upgrade my journalspace account to put it on there.

Okay, so I can’t find my crochet hooks. My husband said he’d track one down for me. So while I’m waiting to fringe my scarf I decided to cast on for my sweater. I’m not really doing the Knitting Olympics (on Yarn Harlot’s blog) but this coincides with it, so I can play along for two weeks. I am doing a sweater out of Reynolds Pamphlet #22, sweater 40. It has a fawn colored body and a multicolored yoke outlined in black. I got the fawn colored yarn on sale, but I still need to buy the rest. Initially I had thought to tackle a simpler cheaper sweater (well, Icelandic sweaters are pretty simple, but this sweater requires a number of different “one off” colors). But then I realized… part of the reason I don’t finish certain projects is that I go cheap. I get enthused about the pattern, but the yarn I substitute rots by comparison to the nice stuff, and I get discouraged and bored. Why don’t I buy the nice stuff? I’m afraid I won’t finish it – I’ve been scarred by guilt. A snake biting its own tail.

But this is a new chapter in my knitting career. I’m doing it selfish. Projects for me. Input from nobody. I’m doing this for the process. I’ll use the real deal… lopi.

I adore the way Manos del Uruguay feels, but I love the way lopi wears. It wears like iron. It has the same loose lofty weave that Manos has, but because of the long staple length it doesn’t pill nearly as much. Of course, it’s been years since I knit either.

I swatched dead on to gauge. I always worry about doing a back-and-forth swatch for something that will be knit in the round, but oh what the hey it’s close enough. I cast on my 144 stitches and I’m about an inch and a half into it, which isn’t too shabby since I haven’t had much time.

I forgot how hard lopi is on my hands. It may wear like iron, but it feels like steel wool. I need to order the rest of the yarn for this. Anyway, it is begun.