What Am I Up To?

Things I Will Be Making in the Upcoming Weeks and Months
(No particular order)

Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
This was probably actually the first sweater that I really wanted to knit. I don't know why I didn't do this one first. It's knit in the round and from everything that I can tell so far, it seems like it would be really simple. I just bought the yarn for it this evening. Cheap KnitPicks yarn = awesome. A handknit sweater under $50? Sweeeeet.

Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang
I wanted to knit these last year, but the colorwork and my dwindling interest in knitting around the time of spring kept me from actually following through. And I needed something to bring my KnitPicks order up over $50 so I could qualify for free shipping. 2 skeins of Palette and I'm set.

Two-Toned Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits
I'm not actually sure if I'm going to knit this quite yet. I have a feeling that the ribbed collar might irritate my neck. Maybe if I can find some cheap yarn at City Knitting, I'll go for it. Maybe I'll keep looking for a better pattern...something like Knitty's Blackberry (without the bobbles, of course). I want something to cover up my arms so I've been wearing a lot of hoodies and cardigans at work. Unfortunately, I really just want the arm coverage -- not the whole body.

Super-Easy Legwarmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Because who doesn't want some super-easy legwarmers?!? And I could probably wear them to work...probably. I have some Lorna's that I've been meaning to use up for forever. This could be the right project for it.

Millicent Sock by Cookie A
I need to figure out what color yarn I want for this. Then I need to buy it. Still, those are some really awesome knee socks. I must have them for myself. *covets*

Moderne Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knits
I've wanted to knit another blanket since I finished up my mitered square blanket. I'm thinking I'll probably use Cotton Ease for such a blanket. I need to figure out an appealing colorway though, then make it happen. I'm having a hard time finding that inspiration. Soon. Hopefully.

And things that I'm already in the process of knitting (because one can never have too many of those):
Felted Cloche -- though I'm tempted to just give up already. I hate knitting it.
Frida Lights -- not really a satisfying knit. I've done 4 or 5 of them so far and they haven't been felted. I was going to make a set for my living room and bedroom, but I think I'm just going to stick with the living room for now.

Le Sesame...C'est Fini!

Ladies and gentlemen...it is a happy, happy day. I, Auna, have finished my very first sweater. YAY ME!
I ambitiously started working on it back in October and it really was a fast knit, which was fabulous, really. I finished the back piece in no time at all and I was certain that I would be done with the entire thing by Christmas. If I weren't so easily distracted by other things I probably would have been, too.
Being the lazy person that I am (with a very limited attention span, no less), I would knit a piece and put it aside for a week, two or month. As it began to slowly come together, I realized that this sweater was maybe a little larger than I had bargained for. I had decided to knit the XL size to accommodate the size of my chest. Looking back, I probably should have knit the L size instead. The body of the sweater actually fits pretty well, albeit, it's not really quite shaping in the way that the pattern indicated but that's mostly due to the sleeves.
OH the sleeves...
I have quite a bone to pick with the sleeves of this sweater. For one, they are LONG. Long, long, LONG! I realize that the pattern has you fold over the cuffs, but I'm not a big fan of that idea and I said "nay" to that notion. Now I'm starting to re-think it.
The other problem with the sleeves was the damn shoulder. *shudder* I initially seamed one of the arm holes and then almost all of the other. There was a slight problem with the pattern (for me at least) where the top of the shoulder just did not match up. At all. I ended up taking the almost finished thing to City Knitting to ask them what to do and they ended up telling me to just rip out the brown at the top of the sleeve and CO with the pink. Done and done. Worked much better without trying to match up the colors. When I did, I ended up with a bit of a pointy shoulder. As it is, the shoulders are a little large. I didn't want to look like a complete linebacker, haha. Still, I really have to pull up the shoulders to make it look like I'm not a pink and brown shapeless monster. :)

Now that I've done all of this complaining, I'm sure that you're wondering what is actually good about this sweater! Or...something like that. I made my own little adjustments here and there (where I felt safe making them, at least). Instead of 24 rows at the bottom of the body piece, I did 36. I have a long torso, and I didn't want this sweater ending at my waist or higher (as was the case with my poor Isabella which was indefinitely put on hold never to be attempted again). And because I was afraid of running out of yarn (which was not the case at all), I decided that I would make the collar shorter. I probably should have made that longer too, but oh well, what am I going to do now? (No, I am NOT going to frog that part!) I don't think that the buttonhole band is quite as long as the pattern called for. I didn't really measure it, but I didn't want it to be too wide, because I was already concerned about the body being too loose. Good thing I stuck to my gut on that one.

Yes, overall, I am quite happy with the sweater. It fits and it doesn't look too bad! Right there, I avoided complete catastrophe! And c'mon, how many people can claim that they've made a sweater for themselves? (Okay, okay, a lot of people can, but I don't personally know anyone else who has made one!!) Next time though, I'll be a little more daring. I'll be a little nicer to myself and my mantra will be "yes, the smaller size will fit you!" (though I will inevitably have to add length to it...unless it's a tunic or something). I won't be afraid of the math involved to make something fit a little bit better and I will pore over the adjustments others have made and articles about how to make something you knit fit you in the best way possible.

All in all? Good first attempt. :)

SWEATER DETAILS:
Pattern: Sesame Sweater from MagKnits
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash 7 skeins total
Colorways: 819 and 838 (4 skeins Brown and 3 skeins Pink)
Needles: Oh goodness. US Size 6 (3 different pairs! The first broke, the second were borrowed, the third were finally mine and didn't break)