Halfway through the month, half a sleeve knit

My knitting would be going along much more quickly if I wasn't stopping every few rows to try on my sleeve. It just fits so perfectly! 

I'm finding Maeve to be an ideal pattern for my first garment. I am able to try it on at most points of its creation, so I will be able to make any modifications necessary without needing much in the way of experience or calculation. Holding the Breeze and Oasis together is creating the most amazing, luscious fabric. At this gauge the fabric is pleasantly dense without being too heavy, and will only become softer with time. 

As promised in my earlier post, I'm embracing the imperfection of handmade. I did not rip my cuff out for the fourth (fifth?) time to fix the garter stitch; I went forward with the pattern and kept adding more knit rows between the purl rows instead.

Maeve was the perfect choice for my first sweater. What pattern and yarn did you choose for your first sweater? Was it a good choice? Visit our Ravelry group for more discussion!

Having all your materials

When I started this sweater I really thought there would be a lot more knitting before I was going to actually need the beads. I was so wrong. I got to a stitch in my chart marked with a little star. "What was that stitch again?" Legend reads: Place bead. "Well, darn." I got online and ordered some beads from a seller just a couple of towns over, saying to myself "they'll be here by the weekend, no problem." The seller was fantastic and got them in the post early the next morning, but, by Saturday night, they still hadn't arrived.

What's a knitter to do on a Sunday, the day when your mother-in-law expects you over for dinner, and your husband plans to watch a very important Giants game with her, and you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if you don't have knitting for this baseball game, you are going to lose your mind, and you can't knit without those darn beads? Go to the nearest giant craft store, of course. It's not my first choice, crowded, noisy, and overwhelmingly perfumed with holiday candles and pine cones. This time, they saved the day; they had exactly what I needed.

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Thankfully, I'd remembered while at the store that I would also need a crochet hook for the actual placing. Can you imagine if I had gotten to my mother-in-law's without it? I watched a video about placing beads with a crochet hook on YouTube and felt confident that I could move forward.The hook is tiny and goes right through the bead, then you just pull the stitch through, stick it back on the needle, and knit it like normal. Watch the video, it's so easy. Maybe a little fiddly, and I would definitely recommend doing it at a table, but do-able and didn't make me cry even a little.

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There you see it, a perfectly placed bead, and no tears. I lost 3 days of knitting time over that little bead. So I learned two lessons this week; how to place beads with a crochet hook and to have all your materials when you start your project! 

I'd love to hear how you learned your lessons. If you have a story to share, leave it in the comments below.

The better part of Valor, is Discretion

Hello all! My name is Jenna, and I am one of the reskeiners here at Anzula.

Hopefully some of you can identify with me.  When we first started planning (in June) to knit sweaters in October, I was totally gung ho. We needed the lead time to make sure we could choose appropriate patterns and make sure the yarn we wanted was in stock, dyed, and ready to go!  One pattern in particular caught my eye - Angela Hahn’s “Prow Pullover” from the Summer 2014 issue of Interweave Knits.  I put in a request for some Oasis in Mariana. I was so excited!

I was also (unbeknownst to me) pregnant.  I spent several months in a haze of overwhelming exhaustion, which probably was at least partially due to the Fresno heat.  By the time I emerged from my mommy-to-be coma and reality set in, I realized that A. I had committed to knitting a sweater that wouldn’t actually fit over my burgeoning belly by the time I finished it. (I would say “if ever”, but I am trying to remain positive on that front!) And B. that as soon as I sat down, I had roughly 20 minutes of knitting time before I drifted off to sleep, like it or not. Oh, and C. That it was over a week into October, and I hadn’t yet managed to cast on. OOPS.

After some soul searching, I decided that discretion is the better part of valor. I will be knitting a baby sweater instead:  specifically, the “Baby Sophisticate” pattern by Linda Helfin.  Because…expediency is key, here. Also, who wouldn’t want her future son to look like a small and dapper version of Mr. Rogers?