sweaters

let’s talk about sweaters. i don’t knit sweaters… or at least that’s what i tell people when they find out i knit and immediately ask if i knit the first thing they see on my body that could possibly be knit (i wear a lot of sweaters… but wearing and knitting, they’re different). and for the most part, it’s true that i don’t knit sweaters.

i have one unfinished sweater. it’s a lamb’s pride bulky cardigan in a carnation pink color that awaits ripping and perhaps some dyeing. it is from very early on in my knitting life. i found the yarn on sale at a yarn shop in Helena, MT and obviously had no idea what i was doing. sometimes that’s the fun of it back in the beginning.

since the thesis ended, however, i’ve been thinking i’ll knit a couple of sweaters sometime soon. one for ben and one for me.  friends who know me, feel free to go into shock now.

i haven’t looked for patterns for ben yet. he’s really picky and likes to be fashionable. i REFUSE to knit him a ribbed zippered sweater like he always wears because we can buy them for 6 bucks at the thrift store. plus, if i’m knitting it, i want it to be different. needless to say, it will take some work to find his pattern - or maybe the yarn will be what’s unique? who knows.

as to me, there are already a couple of canidates.  somewhere buried in my subconscious i’ve always been fond of the hourglass sweater. every single one i’ve seen has turned out and looked smashing. the other one that i’ve been eyeing lately is the buttony sweater. i obviously haven’t been researching much yet and nothing will really get going until we get into Pittsburgh and feel a bit more settled. but in the meantime, i’ll take any advice as to patterns or sweaters.  i may very well just do an elizabeth zimmermann “Knitting Without Tears” sweater.  i’d also love to hear any stories of first sweaters that there are out there!

i have not decided if i’m going to look for a really big sweater to recycle (to make ben’s or mine or both) or if i’m actually going to buy the yarn… i guess we’ll see.  i’ve been emailing back and forth with kent about what i look for when i recycle and if one could make a sweater out of another sweater. i think so much of it depends upon finding the perfect sweater made from the perfect yarn. right now, i feel i’ll probably be buying.  after all, it is an investment, i may never knit another!

no matter what i knit, these pandas in duplicate stitch and embroidery will not be going on the front of it. one of my friend’s immediate response was “oh! those poor pandas!” (tee hee).  i’ll blog more about that sweater tomorrow.