Day 6

Where did the weekend go? Day 6 is here and I'm only 2 days into actual knitting on my 30 day sweater. I chose to knit Lollipop Cardigan by Vera Sanon using Milky Way in Nimbus. Vera is one of my favorite sweater designers of all time, and I've been in love with this cardigan since the first day I saw it and tried on the sample. I've known since that moment I had to have one of my own.

Of course, I've never knit a sweater before. So far it's been great, tricky, but great. That doesn't mean I'm not a little nervous about a couple of the new (to me) techniques. I swatched like crazy. I'm a loose knitter and I really want this to fit properly, so swatching was a must for me. Not that swatching is really new, just um, rare.  

So, what actually is new for me?

Beads. I've never beaded any knitting before. How can a person knit for 5 years and never bead anything? I'll let you know how it goes. (Note to self: Buy beads.)

Contiguous sleeves. What does that even mean? Well, it means the shoulders look like set in sleeves, even though it's seamless and knit top down. It also means that after 2 days of knitting and a couple provisional cast-ons later, I have about 7 ends to weave in. SEVEN. Yay! (Really, yay! I love finishing.) Even if you are one of those knitters that hates weaving ends, I have a feeling this is going to be worth it. I mean, I've tried on the sample and it was so perfect. How could it not be worth it?

My theme for the month: Go big or go home! Check back soon to see how I'm doing. Feel free to offer tips, suggestions, advice, or your favorite chocolate to eat after throwing your knitting across the room in the comments below.

Day 3

Three days, really? Somehow three days have passed since we started our 30 day sweater challenge. Have I cast on? Nope. I'm going to pretend I have an excuse, and I am going to share that with you. You be the judge after that. Don't worry, I understand the judgement. But be warned, there were kittens, but I'll get to that latter. 

You may or may not know that Logan and I fly out for another East Coast adventure on Monday. We will be starting our adventure in Virginia, transversing North Carolina, then putting the beast to bed in Georgia.

There is always a lot to do at the yarn factory before I can hit the road again,  so I knew I needed to cast on in the evening. Which I totally planned to do Wednesday night, but before I could do that I had to run some errands to reunite my friend's kid with her shoes. I picked up the shoes from point A and my friend was introducing her 6 month old kitten to the outdoors, I had to stay, watch, and play for a bit. I finally pulled myself away from the cuteness and delivered the shoes to point B, and you wouldn't believe it, but this friend had a kitten that was just a few weeks old abandoned on her doorstep. As she was putting her three littles to bed, the kitten needed to be fed and tended to. I couldn't really say no. So, I bottle fed a kitten that was smaller than my hand rather than casting on my sweater. I don't even know what happened yesterday. Today was full of meetings. But! I have officially cast on! 

Then, I looked at the second line. P2, pm. Place marker. Of course I'm going to have to place a marker. Have I ever knit a sweater that didn't need stitch markers? I know I probably own hundreds of stitch markers. Do I know were they are? Nope. I have the set that Meg gave me for my birthday.

But I enjoy looking at them too much to use them. I dug through my catch all drawer, and found a Kit Kat, but no stitch markers. Yes, I ate the Kit Kat. Shhh. Then I remembered an extra secret hiding spot. Sometimes I slip stitch markers in the tube I keep my darning needles. I unscrewed the top and dumped the contents, out fell four stitch markers. I double checked the pattern, it called for four. I'm set. 

Now I need to knit this row before I lose these stitch markers.  

Day 2

If you caught Sabrina's post yesterday, you know that a bunch of us around the warehouse were inspired by the 30 Day Sweater program and plan to knit our own sweaters this month.

One of the things about it that is so fun is that we have knitters of varying experience levels taking the challenge. This is my first project I've swatched for, for example. (Which probably explains why my hats never fit.) I am knitting Maeve, by Carrie Bostick Hoge. Oasis is my favorite yarn, but I couldn't get the gauge I needed for the sweater in a fabric I liked. So I swatched holding the Oasis together with first Meridian and then with Breeze. While the Oasis + Meridian combo was incredibly soft and amazing, I preferred the slightly thicker fabric of the Oasis + Breeze combo. 

I cheated a bit and did my swatching before October so that I knew which yarn to get. I'm not sure which was harder, choosing a pattern or choosing a color! With the help of everyone in the office, I finally chose Rye.

My yarn is ready!

Come by and cheer us on, or share your progress on your own fall sweater, in our Ravelry group! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more sweater news!