Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Lila sweater: stitch by stitch


swatching

I am absolutely a process knitter.

I love the simple act of casting on something new- the blank slate possibility, the excitement to see my project grow, the pleasure of working with a new yarn or in a new color. I love long evenings spent at home on the couch, knitting stitch by stitch, sipping tea, learning new stitches, or returning to old ones. I always say to people who ask my why I knit so much that they would do the same if they only knew how fun it is.


working short rows for the body

Now, obviously, I love the end product as well. I think it's very valuable that I can knit my own clothing by hand, rather than purchasing it in a store, without any guarantee of how it was produced. And I am learning so much more about choosing the right patterns for me, so that in the end, I have an item that fits with my wardrobe and that I will actually wear. 

But when it comes down to it, I knit quite simply because I love it. 


growing stitch by stitch and row by row

I shared last week a little bit about why I love Instagram so much. One of the things I mentioned was that it gives us the chance to share with others the process behind what we make. It can be easy to see an item that someone's made (or a photo of that item...) and to think that we ourselves could never make that. But the truth is, that quite often we can. 


she has sleeves!

It just involves a lot of time and effort to get to that end product. It may require practice and failed attempts but in the end it really just comes down to knitting stitch after stitch after stitch.

That's one of the things I love so much about the knitting process- it really is very accessible. 


getting ready to attach the sleeves, which I then lengthened and re-attatched

I'll be sharing more about my Lila sweater at the end of the month (I'm almost finished- just the finishing and blocking to go...) But today I wanted to share some shots of it being knit up, stitch by stitch. 

To take a little time to celebrate the process behind it, as I get ready to enjoy the end product. 


working on the yoke and raglan decreases

I can't wait to officially add this sweater to my Handmade Wardrobe! I'm already planning out what items I can wear it with and know it will be a staple over the next few months as spring slowly arrives. 

what are you guys knitting this month? do you consider yourself a process or product knitter? I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

3 comments:

  1. How do you like the Drops Lima yarn? I have the Lila sweater queued and am on the fence about yarn choice. The Lima looks lovely, but I find alpaca sheds and stretches out a bit too much for my taste, so it depends on the blend. I'd love to hear your thoughts -- it looks beautiful!

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    1. I'm actually pretty happy with the Lima. I love Alpaca as well, and once made mitts from 100% alpaca for my husband that didn't last long at all! The Lima is 60% wool 30% alpaca so it's not quite as "sheddy" but still has that softness and glow that I love. I made a cowl from it earlier this winter before choosing it for the sweater as I wanted to see how it would wear...obviously wearing a cowl is a little different than wearing a sweater but so far so good! I hope this helps. I can't recommend this pattern enough- it was so great to knit and I'm sure I'll be making many more with many different yarns in the future.

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  2. I love your in progress photos and it's one of the reasons I like Instagram so much as well. You just get these little glimpses into other people's daily lives. Looking forward to seeing your finished sweater :)

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