L&KAL? A self-styled knit-along, with a lose-along?
Twenty Twenty
Here we are.
I've decided that this is the "Year of the Sweater" for me. I've knit, crocheted and sewed for many years,on and off in my life. I took up knitting with a vengeance sometime around 2015; as a meditation flunky. While cramming in the weekly shopping, I spotted some chunky acrylic yarn and equally chunky crochet hooks on clearance -- and I knew that was the answer to my growing anxiety about things in the my life, my world I could not change.
Those early quick infinity scarves soon turned into lap blankets, hats, earmuffs, slippers for everyone in the family and finally socks. I've knitted quite a lot since then, and in fact my spouse says I did not leave my La-Z-Girl for 3 months solid in 2015 while I was also processing the rare neurological condition my mother had been diagnosed with and a few other looming life changes that I was not looking forward to at all!
Without going through the past five, roller-coaster years (at least not all the details right now!), I've finally knitted myself out of needed projects and I would like to tackle sweaters. (I've actually just completed my first sweater, albeit a baby sweater!). I have collected some very nice yarns in the past year, and have a sweater quantity of yarn in at least 4 different beautiful wools. I have also been sourcing patterns and design inspirations for the better part of last year as well; and yet I can't seem to get started.
I actually had the goal of casting on my first sweater last March (2019), but something stopped me. What I finally came to realize was that there is no sweater I could make for myself right now that I would want to wear. You see, in the past few years we've encountered quite a lot change, and some tragedy; which I buffered not only with knitting, but cocooning in my chair, searching for comfort in comfort food, and by rescuing a dog. The dog was supposed to get me out and back to my walking ways (I used to walk 3-5 miles a day, and actively worked on my health), but some physical injuries to my lower back, knees and feet from both moving several houses worth of stuff (My mother's, my sister's, and our house), and a move to a new location stuck on the side of a steep hill, and a dog that does not walk well on a leash due to his hound nose, and territorial tendencies -- didn't turn things around as I had hoped.
Over the recent holidays, pondering how stuck I've been feeling, and several dreams with central themes of being trapped, I had the thought that I could start both a health reclamation project, along with a sweater project -- with the caveat of picking a sweater size smaller than I am currently (and one I would most likely be proud to wear). Sort of a knit-along, of the health variety; a parallel journey of progressing row by row in knitting, with accomplishing weekly health goals. I figure it's going to take me a good 3 months to knit my first adult-sized sweater, and if I married it with health initiatives, I just might be closer to that size (and more importantly shape), that I'd feel comfortable enough in to actually wear a sweater! So, here I am in blog-o-sphere accountability land.
Here we are.
I've decided that this is the "Year of the Sweater" for me. I've knit, crocheted and sewed for many years,on and off in my life. I took up knitting with a vengeance sometime around 2015; as a meditation flunky. While cramming in the weekly shopping, I spotted some chunky acrylic yarn and equally chunky crochet hooks on clearance -- and I knew that was the answer to my growing anxiety about things in the my life, my world I could not change.
Those early quick infinity scarves soon turned into lap blankets, hats, earmuffs, slippers for everyone in the family and finally socks. I've knitted quite a lot since then, and in fact my spouse says I did not leave my La-Z-Girl for 3 months solid in 2015 while I was also processing the rare neurological condition my mother had been diagnosed with and a few other looming life changes that I was not looking forward to at all!
Without going through the past five, roller-coaster years (at least not all the details right now!), I've finally knitted myself out of needed projects and I would like to tackle sweaters. (I've actually just completed my first sweater, albeit a baby sweater!). I have collected some very nice yarns in the past year, and have a sweater quantity of yarn in at least 4 different beautiful wools. I have also been sourcing patterns and design inspirations for the better part of last year as well; and yet I can't seem to get started.
I actually had the goal of casting on my first sweater last March (2019), but something stopped me. What I finally came to realize was that there is no sweater I could make for myself right now that I would want to wear. You see, in the past few years we've encountered quite a lot change, and some tragedy; which I buffered not only with knitting, but cocooning in my chair, searching for comfort in comfort food, and by rescuing a dog. The dog was supposed to get me out and back to my walking ways (I used to walk 3-5 miles a day, and actively worked on my health), but some physical injuries to my lower back, knees and feet from both moving several houses worth of stuff (My mother's, my sister's, and our house), and a move to a new location stuck on the side of a steep hill, and a dog that does not walk well on a leash due to his hound nose, and territorial tendencies -- didn't turn things around as I had hoped.
Over the recent holidays, pondering how stuck I've been feeling, and several dreams with central themes of being trapped, I had the thought that I could start both a health reclamation project, along with a sweater project -- with the caveat of picking a sweater size smaller than I am currently (and one I would most likely be proud to wear). Sort of a knit-along, of the health variety; a parallel journey of progressing row by row in knitting, with accomplishing weekly health goals. I figure it's going to take me a good 3 months to knit my first adult-sized sweater, and if I married it with health initiatives, I just might be closer to that size (and more importantly shape), that I'd feel comfortable enough in to actually wear a sweater! So, here I am in blog-o-sphere accountability land.
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