knit a sweater

I just knitted a pair of mittens, and intend to do a matching scarf, and maybe hat. The sweater might be next!

Bought some adorable wool yarn to knit a backpack and then felt it, but I’m falling in love with the yarn (a purple heather) and I’m can’t imagine felting it! It might become the yarn for my first sweater!

But I think first I’d better try a few more complicated things before I start in on the sweater. Don’t want to screw up with this gorgeous yarn!

Here is my first project that included purling. The pattern is a simple knit 3, purl 3 ribbing, and it really helped me get the hang of not purling too tight. It is made with Lion Brand Homespun yarn, which is super soft, but tends to fray. I got a bit frustrated with one skein; I kept finding flaws where the yarn had not been spun tight enough.

Anyway, I’m very pleased with the results and now just need to decide if I’m keeping it for myself or giving it to the church for their prayer shawl ministry. They give the shawls to people who are going through hard times or have lost loved ones.

So I (sort of) finished my first knitting project. It was supposed to be a scarf, and even though I followed the gauge and instructions correctly, there is no way it is long enough to be a scarf. I hate that instructions call for a certain number of ounces, rather than yardage, feet, meters, or some other form of measurement. You can’t know by weight how long or how much yarn there really is in a hank or skein. Grr.

But all is not lost. I plan on getting a pretty complimenting color and turning my rather boxy scarf into a little purse.

And if nothing else, I’m rather proficient at knitting now. I’m going to do a couple more of these (and make them narrower so they actually become scarves) and then move onto something that requires purling.

It is a beginning!

I’m just learning to knit, but my ultimate goal is to knit a sweater or shell sweater that I can wear to work. I’ve been crocheting for a few years now, but it is more difficult to find good wearables in crochet than in knit.

So while this is a big goal, I’m going to take it in steps…first a scarf. Then maybe a shawl. Then maybe I’ll tackle the sweater.