Slog Sweater

I cast on for this sweater back in September. Its from the book New England Knits which I really, really like. There are a number of other sweaters in this book that I want to knit, but this one really caught my eye, and I cast on right away.

Well, here I am 6 months later and I'm just now finishing it.

I'm very happy with the finished cardigan. Its very wearable. It fits well, and I like it a lot. Why it took me so long to finish is anyone's guess. I think it was the endless amount of garter stitch. And when I got to the sleeves it was even worse. Garter stitch in the round is not for the faint of heart. It was beyond monotonous. So, I opted to knit them flat. I love knitting flat garter in front of the TV. The down side to knitting flat sleeves is seaming. But it appears I hate seaming less than I hate garter stitch in the round.

I promised myself that I would not cast on for another sweater until I finished this one. I was so happy to finish this sweater that I immediately cast on for Lady of the Lake Cardigan by Fleece Artist. This kit has been in my stash for quite some time - lets hope it doesn't take me as long to finish this sweater. Here is my progress so far

This is magical yarn for sure. I just love the resulting fabric. I'll keep you posted as to how quickly this one knits up.

The Big Project

Megan (of Stitch It podcast fame) has decided to do a 'big project'. She plans on processing a fleece right from the start. Me, in my infinite wisdom, I've decided that this would be a great idea and I'm going to Big Project a long with her. My proof? This box.

In this package there is a well skirted fleece of corriedale/merino/ramboulet cross lamb - 4 pounds of it. I'm not sure if this will be enough to make a whole handspun sweater (since I'm sure there is at least a pound of lanolin in the fleece) But there will be enough to make some serious yarn. I'm thinking this is a better quality fleece than the whole Jacob debacle of 2009. Its a white fleece, so it'll be easier to dye right? And this time, like Megan, I've decided to process smaller batches and spin from the lock this time. Anyways, I'm hopeful. Wish me luck!

In other news I've been doing the freeform crochet a long on Ravelry again. Every March is international crochet month. I love, love, love this game. I don't always love my final item, but I usually learn a few new stitches and make a few friends in the process. Here is what I've got so far.

Interesting, isn't it?