Year of the Sweater Community:
if you watch the podcast or follow the group, you know that i have decided that this new year will be about knitting sweaters that fit me the way that i want them to fit. sweater knitting is time-consuming, costly, and can lag on for-EVER. after all that, you just want a sweater to fit, right?
over the next year, i am challenging myself to start paying attention to the details of knitting sweaters. everything from getting correct measurements, to learning about gauge and why i should love it, to finishing techniques. i want to learn AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
i have several posts planned in my head, and a few on paper, but i thought i would start with talking about why i need to learn to knit better sweaters.
problem #1 the bust
before i had my son, i really only knit one sweater. truthfully, i'm pretty sure that i didn't finish said sweater until after he was born. fast forward 3 years and i'm still struggling with the changes that happened to my bust. i was picking a size 38 sweater based on my bust size. obviously this was a problem because i'm knitting sweaters that don't have the right amount of positive ease.
problem #2 the waist (aka the "spare tire", the "muffin top")
i said it...i want to be clear here... i am not degrading my body. i am happy with my body, maybe not so much my weight but i'm working on it. BUT, i want to wear sweaters (and garments) that don't bring attention to my waist. i am mom and i know that there are some things that just happen when you have children and i am completely okay with that. BUT, i want to wear things that make me feel beautiful... not self-conscious of those areas that i would rather not put on display.
problem #3 the details
there are details that a knitter has to pay attention to when knitting any pattern. how many stitches to cast on, when to increase, when to decrease, how many buttonholes, etc. after knitting my inland, i realize that those details are not suggestions...the details lead you to knitting a great sweater. gauge is a BIG DETAIL that i think a lot of knitters look over and disregard. however, not knowing your gauge is a red flag for not getting the sweater you want. when i knit my inland, i didn't really pay attention to my gauge or my buttonholes. measuring for the next buttonhole was really non-existent. and knowing how my row gauge affected said buttonhole was even more of a disaster. i now have a finished sweater where the buttonholes are way too far apart, making for quite a disappointment. isn't there a saying about this???? ah, yes.... "the devil is in the details". how true that is.
so, there you have it. 3 main problems that i have noticed with my sweater knitting. 3 problems that have led me to this point. 3 problems that are absolutely fixable with a little bit of help.
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