Out With the Old

Just as the old year is about to end and a new one begin, it has worked out that I've been able to finish one knitting project and start another. And why not? This is prime knitting season now that winter has settled in, we're still in vacation/holiday mode, and months of good-sweater-wearing weather are ahead of us.

Last night I sewed the buttons on a yoked cardigan that I started around Thanksgiving. I don't quite remember how I came across this pattern originally. I suppose I saw a posting on Ravelry. Several knitters had begun with the complimentary pattern from the DROPs website and modified it to include long sleeves and a slightly different pattern in the yoke design. The modified look appealed to me, I had some yarn on hand, and so I cast on.

Talk about economical knitting. I used only two skeins of Lion's Brand Fisherman's Wool and bought those on sale. I'm pretty sure that the buttons cost more than the yarn did on this project--and that's saying something, because the buttons are nothing special.

It's a cute sweater, and I'm sure I'll get plenty of wear out of it, but I would warn a new knitter that the finished product has little to do with the original pattern. If you are confident enough to "go with the flow" as you are knitting to get the yoke decreases and garment shaping, by all means. But if you need a "by the book" knit, I would think twice.

Of course, I was itching to get started on the "Green (Red) Sweater" project that was shipped to the house earlier this month. It's not even so much the sweater itself that has me excited to get knitting as it is the story behind the sweater. It makes you wonder how many other undiscovered treasures could be out there. It also makes me wonder what will ever happen to all the garments I've knit over the years. I'm surely no Elizabeth Zimmermann, but there are lots of sweaters around that have come off my needles. Maybe someone will put one on some day and think about who put it together one cold winter day.