Sweater Update

Did I ever mention that I am a really really slow knitter? I am super slow, I am not sure why but I just am. It seems to take me forever to get anything knit. Some people can knit a sweater in 2 weeks start to finish. Me, not so much.

The Olympics are starting the second week of competition and I have not gotten very far on my sweater.  Here is where I started out last week...

This photo is the closest to the actual color of the thread.

And here is where I am this afternoon...

I have gotten through the decreases for the waist shaping.

I am onto adding in the increases for my hips, because I have hips!

Still need to add more length and I haven't even began on the sleeves. As my daughter would say "oh buddy". It is not looking good for me to have this finished by the end of the Olympics. My new goal...by St. Patrick's Day.

Green Apple Vodka Sweater and Goldilocks

Tonight begins coverage of the Olympics and my goal is to finish a sweater over the next 2 weeks. I started this sweater in September 2013 and I stopped working on it for some reason I can't remember but I am sure it was something shinny.  The pattern is Vodka Lemonade by Thea Colman.

Here are a couple screen shots so you know what it is supposed to look like.

I like the seed stitch collar.

My plan is to knit this a little longer, not end it at the waist like the pattern shows.

I am calling my sweater Green Apple Vodka. The yarn is 100% Baby Alpaca and it feels amazing!

Now comes my Goldilocks moment. The first needle I was using to knit this were Signature Needles which are my go to favorites but these one were to short for some reason and they feel old in my hands. So these are TOO SMALL.

The next pair of needles I switched to were Addi Turbo's but I find these to be to sticky with this yarn. SO these are TOO SKICKY.

My last set are Knit Picks wood needles and they are feeling just right. This makes me a very happy girl.

Green Apple Vodka and a Story About Finding My Way.

During the Olympics I plan to knit a sweater. Its a challenge, you start a project at opening ceremonies and finish by closing, something like 17 days. No surprise, this year I am cheating. 

On September 12th, 2012 my husband and I were to be at the hospital beginning a new phase of our lives. Every 4 weeks, for the rest of his life, my husband will have to go to the hospital to receive an infusion that takes several hours to receive. Being someone who is not patient I need to keep myself occupied during these long hours of nothing to do. My husband hates when I just sit and worry so I decided to begin a project, i decide to knit a sweater.

So days before we are to be at the hospital, using the website Raverly I research and find just the perfect easy sweater. Its called Vodka Lemonade.

(Sorry for the pictures off the internet.)

 Its a top down cardigan and looks simple enough. Let me stop here and say that I am not a great knitter, I can do basic stuff, heck I even love to knit lace shawls, but shaping...not so much. So I need a pattern with not to much going on so that I won't give up before I even start.  I make a run to the yarn shop and pick up some beautiful yarn, its pure alpaca in a green heather( so I change the name of the sweater to Green Apple Vodka). Simple lovely to feel. I gather up my needles and wind up a ball of yarn and I am ready for a day at the hospital.

I begin knitting on the first day of treatment and I continue knitting at home for a little while. What I didn't expect was the overwhelming stress my husband illness takes on me. I worry about him, I worry about the financial toll its taking, and that part of me that is creative and needs to create just floats away. I stop knitting, I stop quilting, I stop all those things that were a huge part of me. Replacing my creative side is a crushing worry.

What finally brought me out of this funk...I bought a spinning wheel.

 I didn't know the first think about spinning but it was new and it was exciting and I was able to throw myself into being an artist again. It didn't happen overnight and I still have times where I feel overwhelmed with the worry but I am getting better. My creative side is wide wake and I feel the need to do 20 things at once. This is the old me! It makes me feel good.

I need to finish this sweater so I decide that February is the perfect time to knit on this as I watch the Olympics. Here is how it looks so far...

 

The picture doesn't show the beautiful color, I will take more pictures in February. I am planning on adjusting the pattern by making the sweater longer.