Mom's Christmas Sweater

 The musings for this sweater started quite awhile ago. I had it in my mind to make my Mom a sweater this year for Christmas, but I've learned my lesson when it comes to surprise sweaters. Not a good idea. It's a whole lot of knitting and everyone ends up disappointed. So, I got this idea in my head that I would surprise my Mom in May for her birthday with the idea of knitting her a sweater and the yarn to make said sweater. She typically comes to visit us in May as well, so part of the idea was that we could then pick out the sweater design and yarn together while she was here, then I could have plenty of time to knit it up before Christmas and gift the finished product to her then. Welp, my ideas for yarn shopping together kind of fell through with the general busy schedule that we pack into her visits, but the idea was still there. We talked extensively about what kind of sweater she would like. She picked something not at all shocking for someone who knows her as well as I do. A white cabled sweater. I was a little bit surprised that she picked a cardigan over a pullover, but that was about it. We also talked about what yarn I would buy: Imperial Stock Ranch Columbia of course because I'm obsessed with it and it was just exactly right for the sweater we were envisioning.

Then it was time to look for a pattern. Which is actually easier said than done when you've got an exact picture in your mind of what you want. It's much easier to browse patterns willy nilly and think, ''ooh I like that one!" or "that one is totally cool and I never would have thought of that style" rather than go into it knowing exactly what you're looking for. Which is also exactly how I feel about shopping for shoes BTW. 

Anyway, we did lots of pattern browsing while Mom was here, but just couldn't find the exact right fit. As we were browsing she was drawn to the more traditional stitch patterns. Lots of cables but no nups or crazy stuff. She also liked it when all pieces of the sweater featured cable patterns. Fronts, back, and sleeves. On my end, I was looking for a fairly modern pattern (there are lots of gorgeous vintage patterns but they're unfortunately not always as accessible) that was well written and had a good schematic. I wasn't going to mess with a totally random pattern when I would be knitting it without my model present for try-ons. I was also hoping for something with a raglan sleeve, which isn't at all traditional for an Aran sweater design but that I prefer in terms of ease of construction and seamless knitting when compared to a set-in sleeve. Oh. And written for a worsted or aran weight yarn. We searched and searched. I debated on if I would have to strike out on my own again. But still, I didn't feel confident doing this form across the country and under a timeline. Too many risks. So Mom left without a final pattern picked out.

Then I saw this post on Fringe Association - a blog I regularly read - at the end of July. And suddenly there it was. The perfect pattern staring me right in the face. It met all of the criteria. I swatched, sent Mom a phone picture, and we were off.

In all honesty, I hit a few rough patches with this project. I swatched three times and still couldn't get the right gauge. It just seemed impossible with this yarn. Which, yes, can be a problem when you buy your yarn before you pick out a pattern. But let's be honest I was going to use this yarn no matter what (as I mentioned I'm obsessed). I still don't know what the problem was. Yes, this yarn is a very thick worsted. Yes, I'm a very tight knitter, especially when it comes to cables (and stranded colorwork). And this yarn also has a lot of flexibility and can change a lot after blocking which means my gauge swatch was very malleable when I blocked it. Maybe I stretched it too much? Maybe I stretched it to little? I don't know. What I do know is that based on my third swatch I cast on for the large size and knit nearly two thirds of the body. Then I stopped being in denial and admitted it was just looking way too...wrong. Too dense yet too big, even before blocking. So I used my nearly finished body - which I should mention I modified to knit seamlessly, so we're talking fronts and back - as a massive gauge swatch and made the decision to frog the whole thing and start over at a size small at one needle size larger. This was not a split second decision. I did lot of measuring and math folks. 

I can't remember exactly when I decided to start over, but it was within enough time that I felt I could still finish in time for Christmas. As it was, I worked steadily but not frantically on it and had time to block and finish it without rushing. The buttons were attached on December 20th, and I was able to wrap it up before Mom and Jim arrived for the holidays on the 22nd. Phew! Then I crossed my fingers until Christmas Eve when Mom unwrapped it, tentatively tried it on, and found it to be a perfect fit. Oh hurray! What a sigh of relief we both breathed! All measurements and planning aside you just can't know how it will feel in the end until you try it on. Luckily, this one felt just right. 

Here are the specifics: 

• Pattern: Amanda by Lene Holme Samsøe from Essentially Feminine Knits
• Needles: US 6 for ribbing, US 7 for body and sleeves
• Yarn: Imperial Columbia

Raveled here for all you knitting folks!

Let's Talk About 2015

Truth: I have not kept up with my goals for this space in the past year. I'm not really bothered by that fact to be honest. Do I wish I had blogged more? Yes. But do I feel bad that I didn't. Nope. I refuse to feel guilty about this space because it has always been meant as a fun, casual outlet. On weeks when my to-do list is full of other things - or I simply feel like doing ridiculous amounts of knitting rather than typing - I easily move the blog to the bottom of the list. That being said, I still love writing and sharing things here so I'm going to keep doing it.

Last year, I did a little reflecting and documenting of my goals for 2014. My first goal was to write more posts each month in 2014 than I did in 2013. That only happened in two out of twelve months. Meh. Second, I wanted to post more about food. Technically, that one was a success but only because there were barely any recipe posts in 2013. But in truth I didn't write about many recipes, especially in the second half of the year. Knitting sort of took over.

....and cue the segway into knitting....

In addition to these two blog-related goals, I also set a knitting goal for myself last year of becoming a better sweater knitter. My challenge was to only knit sweaters for Kevin and I (meaning I would still knit other things for other people, but for the two of us it would only be sweaters). I did end up knitting some accessories for us, but mostly only toward the end of the year and out of necessity (wool socks for Kevin and a wooly hat for me because winter). Overall, I'm calling this one a rousing success! In total I finished six sweaters this year:

• Smokin' Jacket for Kevin
• Agatha Cardigan for me
• Flaming Tinder for me
• Christmas Sweater for me
• McQueen Pullover for Kevin
• Amanda Cardigan for Mom (not yet blogged)

Beyond having the garments themselves, I am most pleased that I have advanced my skills and become a more precise knitter. I've properly swatched, measured, and consulted pattern schematics so that I can finally stop being lazy and make things that fit the first time. I'm not including the failed Hugo sweater that sparked this whole goal in this list because most of the knitting was done in 2013. However, I actually love that sweater for me and have ended up wearing it a ton this winter.
 

Ok, phew. Now that I've gotten done with the block of text about last year, I can finally move on to this year! Below are the goals I've set. These are for life in general, not this blog. Because clearly blogging goals for me are a farce.

1. Become someone who sews. 

I can sew. I do occasionally sew. But this year I want to get lots better at it. I want to become a sewer. Someone who can make garments from a pattern with confidence. I'm pretty uncomfortable with using our sewing machine right now, and I want to get over that fear. If this year ends with few actual sewn garment but a higher level of comfortability with patterns and our machine it will be a success. A high aim would be to have lots of garments and to be at the point where I can start buying really good materials without fear of f%#*ing them up. Right now I'm buying cheap fabrics that I like but will not be heartbroken over if they get trashed.

2. Knit my stash. 

I consider my stash to be big but not out-of-control huge. If you saw it all you may disagree with this (and no, this picture is not all of it...). However, I have lots of really great stuff in there! Stuff I've been meaning to work with and genuinely love, but that has gotten shoved into storage or back-burnered for too long. The pile above is my goal. All of this has been designated for specific projects, so now I just have to make them. By the end of this year, this pile of string shall be transformed into stuff! Simple enough, right? A second half to this goal is to not buy any more yarn until this stack is used up. I know, I know. I can already say with confidence that I will fail on that account. Not buying any yarn for a year is a little nuts. I'm prepared to give myself leeway on this for super special yarn purchases or for random projects that will probably pop up as gifts.

That's it! Wish me luck!