Knit, Purl, Knit ... Wait ... Oh dang!

So, I began this project because I love the feel of a knitted sweater, I needed a cute off-white cardigan, and I can't afford to buy a really great off-white cardigan.  Now, I hate shopping.  I know, it can't be true.  But it is.  So, after looking on Amazon and seeing endless books that don't actually show what patterns it offers (did I mention I hate going to the store), I was given a brain-bulb (you know, lightbulb over the head ...  an idea).  Find a book at the library and see if you can even do the patterns!

So, I headed over to my local library - which I love, by the way, because it has everything. And if it doesn't have it, it will get it for you! Wonderful! - and found a few of the books I had unsuccessfully browsed online.  I found the book "feminine Knits" and was excited to see quite a few patterns I wanted to try.  So, I checked it out and brought it home, and stared at it for a few days, not sure how to start, what yarn to buy, why I was doing this ... panic.


Then, I took a deep breath and started searching online for any knitting website there was to help me understand yarn weight. Which, by the way, is insane.  I have to agree that we need to just move to number of times the yarn wraps around a designated and universally-sized and -accepted dowel.  But, I digress.  I found several websites.  My favorite is this one ... http://www.knittingbrain.com/yarns.php  Check it out if you ever wonder what type of yarn to use (or not to use!).


So, armed with that knowledge I ventured to my local craft store - because I'm not enough of a knitter to venture into an actual yarn shop (and I'm sure it would actually be spelled shoppe and they would recognize me as an interloper immediately).  I found a few skeins  - anyone know how to actually pronounce this, by the way? I've heard it several ways and am curious - that were on sale (yay!) and rushed home.  I brushed aside the little thought pestering my brain to check for any pattern corrections (yeah ... don't do that, brush it aside ... listen to that little voice and go online. It's your friend and will save you time and headaches) and got started.  And unraveled and restarted.  And unraveled and restarted again. And unraveled and restarted once more.  And ... you get the picture. 


Apparently, I need to read ALL of the instructions, not just the ones I caught while skimming the page.  This is a fun little irony, considering I've been working on helping my 7-year old enjoy reading to read, not just to finish (skim) a book. Life's little lessons.  

After several mishaps and discoveries - the corrections page on the publisher's website was probably my favorite - I have been progressing at a lovely pace and am beginning to actually see how this might fit on my body at some point in the near future. This picture is the back of the cardigan - you can kind of see the beginnings of the arm holes.

And, someday, if I'm patient, and look online for any tips or hints, it might someday look like this:  

Isn't it pretty? I hope it will be as pretty on me as it is on the model.  I'm excited. I'll let you know how it's going!

A Lapse - in Time & Judgement

So, many of you (all one of you, meaning ... me) will notice that I have done nothing with this blog since posting my ambitions.  The reason behind this lapse (at least, this is what I will 'blame' it on) is that we were blessed with a beautiful, adopted baby boy!  He has lovingly taken my time (which I give willingly) and scrunched it and anything else soft or smooshy up into his beautiful little hands.  


He is now sleeping through the night (knock on wood), and as I gather more of my wits with every extra hour of sleep, I am beginning to feel the need to create and do.  So, I have made a Hobby Jar.  In it, are many filled slips of folded paper giving me a project that I've been meaning to start - or finish!  Along with projects that have an end, I have included several projects like "do one page of scrapbooking" (because it's just so daunting for an open-ended "do scrapbooking"), or  "Complete one family blog post" (again, a small tribute to make it seem more achievable).  I have also put in three little suggestions that scare me more than anything else in the jar.  Three little slips of paper that, when I draw from the jar my hand will shake with fear should I draw one.  Those three say "Write for one hour."  Should I draw such a slip, I'm sure my enthusiasm and response time will lag a little, but, I shall prevail.  And, because those are the most frightening, they will go back in the jar once completed.  


So, Here goes my new goal of at least having a project in mind.  I'm currently knitting a sweater.  I know! I didn't really know I could knit.  I'm finding out that at first, I can't ... I've restarted a pattern 18 times now. But, I'm well on my way now - and using the internet to make sure I know what I think I know.  I've almost finished with the back.  So, I'll post pics as I go, as proof that I'm doing this.  If someone does happen upon this blog and wants info about anything I'm working on, leave a comment asking for it and I'll post it.  If you want specifics, leave a comment with your email address (you should probably have an email account that doesn't have your real name, like AwesomePossum @ something.com (and no, that's not my email info, but it would rock, wouldn't it?).  Anyway, here I go ... again. Wish me luck!