10 Sweaters - 10 months

 I started out the year with just 2 handknit sweaters in my closet that I actually wore.

I had several sweaters knitted that I didn't wear because they weren't quite right so I frogged all of those ones and started out to rebuild my handknit sweater wardrobe.  I didn't intend to knit 10 sweaters in 10 months but somehow it happened that I averaged a sweater a month.  Some took longer than that and others less time but here I am in a new year  with 12 new or re-knit sweaters that I love.  I'll link to my Ravelry Project page if you want to see more details and I'll list the yarn if I remember what it was.  I wasn't very good at keeping yarn labels.

January

En Pointe Pullover, a fingering weight yarn I bought several years ago.

February 

Icy Blue Cardigan , Swish Bulky Yarn, dyed with Kool-Aid

Spoked Cardigan

 

March

Long Sleeve Grey Cardigan  Americo, copeto medeo

April

Grey Star   Knit Picks swish worsted

May

Regatta Tee , ** cotton/wool blend worsted weight

June

Gathered Front Tank: pattern from Interweave Knits - hand dyed yarn bought at my LYS 

(This one I only fixed the straps on, I didn't re-knit the whole thing)

July

 Sweet Tee, ** Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

 

August

Coral Rose Cardigan, Sweet Georgia Yarns DK

This is my third favourite sweater.

September

I Heart Purple  Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label

This is tied for my most favourite sweater. 

October

Grey and Sunnyside  Tanis Fiber Arts Yarn Green Label

And my other most favourite sweater.  I wear this all the time!

And that's when I lost steam.  I still can't believe I knit 10 sweaters in 10 months for myself.  My last 3 sweaters are my favourites.  I've learned that I like v-neck cardigans or shawl collar, rather than round-neck cardigans.  I like cardigans.  I like mostly seamless designs.  I like patterns with some detail, but not too much detail.  I am more motivated to knit when I have a pattern to keep track of and rows to check off.

I will be going back to work full-time as a kindergarten teacher in March so my knitting time will decrease drastically.  I'm going to knit some sweaters next year.  A really warm brown one, a lighter brown one, a white one and a blue one.  I have the yarn for all but the white one.  Knitting in those colours will let me mix and match with most of my wardrobe I wear for work or home.

And I will be then only knitting much smaller things, socks, scarves, hats . .  .and sweaters for my kids as they grow.

If you are reading this thank you for following along and if you are a knitter I hope you sneak in a few rows each day. 

Helen Joyce Cardigan

My first DK weight sweater I've ever knit!  I tend to stick with worsted to bulky weight yarns for how fast they knit up. I found this yarn at my LYS and couldn't help picking up a skein . . . then going back and getting 2 more because I loved the colour so much.

Neckline too low and wide

When I finished it according to the pattern instructions I could barely keep it on my shoulders and it was really low around the back neckline. I tried adding a little panel at the front to pull it across.  I'd see something like this on a shrug and thought it looked neat. NOPE . . . not working. 

Attempt to pull sweater together at front

Pattern: Helen Joyce Cardigan by Taiga Hilliard Designs
Yarn: Sweet Georgia Yarn DK: Coral Rose

 So I pulled out my cast-off and starting increasing the border.  I did several short rows to increase the neckline and the back and add in enough width to have it sit nicely on my shoulders.

I loved the lace pattern at the bottom of the sweater.  I read other people's modifications and lowered the seed stitch band to be below my bust line.  I don't like cropped sweaters so I added length so it sits at my hips.  

Now: perfect, I love it.  It is the perfect weight cardigan, makes a pair of jeans look dressy and goes well with dresses or skirts.  After I knit all the heavy-weight yarn in my stash I need to get some more light-weight yarn. Onto my next sweater: I Heart Cardigan by Tanis Lavallee

2 Week Sweater . . . almost

It's done!!!  I'm so happy with the way it turned out!

Pattern: Iced Cardigan by Carol Feller

Yarn: Bare Swish Bulky Yarn
Yarn dyed using kool-aid.

Pattern modifications:  Extended the sleeves to measure 19" and the body to measure 15"

Took me a little bit longer to knit .. . . 15 days instead of 14 but I'm still excited to have it finished to wear on these cold winter days.

Updated Photos:

Next Project:  Spoked Cardigan: from Interweave knits

Yarn:  Amazing by Lion Brand

My husband gave me 4 balls of this yarn for Christmas several years ago and I have been struggling to figure out what to do with it.  I was checking out the project pages on Ravelry and saw someone else had used this yarn to make the Spoked Cardigan.  Perfect.