Ready, Set,…Wait a Minute

I am great at finishing things, not always so great at starting things. I know a lot of people have the opposite problem, but I’m sure there are others like me.

I have perfectionist tendencies, a strong desire for efficiency and productivity. I treat beginning a project as a commitment to finish it. There are many ways that my personality serves me well when it comes to producing something high quality. However, sometimes it can get in the way of creativity and enjoyment. I do sometimes “practice”, but don’t often “experiment”. I’m trying to be more open to that.

Earlier this year, I completed my first knitting project, a shawl. I was happy with it, but knew that I would get more use out of a regular piece of clothing than a shawl. I had just wanted to practice on something that did not require complicated precision for fitting correctly (which is much more intimidating in knitting/crocheting than in sewing).

I really wanted to try a pullover sweater next. First I looked through all my vintage knitting books and magazines to consider different patterns. Then I went through all my stash yarn, looking for the colors I liked best. Then I looked through all the yarn again considering the yarn weight and quantity to try to determine if there was enough for a sweater project. I finally narrowed it down to two top yarn choices. Then I looked back through my top choices of knitting patterns to see what weight and quantity they called for and if any would work with my top yarn choices.

It was nearly settled when my mom offered to let me look through her stash and I changed my top color choice because I found a different (gorgeous!) yarn. I almost completely changed the plan for a “reach” knitting pattern, but realized I would need a different tool to make cable stitches. That will have to wait for now. Instead of going back to my previous top choice, I went for a third pattern.

Now I was ready to make gauge swatches (this is when you test out the yarn weight, needle size, and tension to make sure you can accurately calculate the number of stitches needed). After making the gauge swatches, it looked like the math was doable and that I would have enough yarn, but I decided this option was too plain for the amount of work I was going to put in.

I spent a while on the internet looking at Fair Isle sweaters and then did a little research to see how complicated they were to knit. I ended up sketching out my own pattern Fair Isle pattern for a little decoration around the yoke. I pulled out the stash yarn again to look for smaller quantities of matching weight but contrasting colors for a pattern. Then I had to make another gauge swatch and try out the coloring switching. I then washed and blocked the gauge swatches for precision since I wanted to be able to wash the sweater. Then I did the dirty work (math) again to double check that my calculations were correct.

I was somewhat exhausted at this point… without having made the first stitch. It will be coming soon though…