Back to sweaters

(I did finish the Lyra amigurumi. And her limbs are flexible enough that even though she was made following the standard "standing horse" pattern, she can be made to sit upright, which pleases me. Pictures will come later on).

I pulled out the Ropes and Picots sweater that I hadn't worked on for a long time. And I realized that I have the back all done, the left front all done...and the right front is progressing. I'm further along on this than I remembered. So, I went back to working on it last night, thinking that if I can stay motivated to work on it and can push my way through it, I may have it finished by the end of the summer. (Well, "Sleeve Island" awaits me, but maybe I can power through those, or, depending on the pattern I may be able to knit both at the same time off of different balls of yarn).

There IS something special about working on a sweater; somehow it feels more "permanent" or like a bigger accomplishment. (Even if the two stalled-out socks on the needles - Little Ice Age and a twisted-stitch sock pattern - probably take more work and thought than the average sweater does).

Also, I have a lot of sweaters' worth of yarn ahead. I'm thinking maybe the lace cardigan that's in New England Knits will be my next sweater - it's all knitted in one piece (no separate sleeves) and I really love the yarn I have for it (which was bought almost a year ago, now!). But I do also have my birthday yarn for another Central Park Hoodie....(I have yarn stashed all over my house. In case of a yarn-ball emergency.).

I think also for me, working on a sweater in the summer reminds me that it won't always be hot and bright out, that eventually fall will come again. (Please, this year, may we have a real winter, instead of whatever that was we had last winter?). There is also something soothing to me about the mental image of sitting there working on a sweater; part of it is the feeling of "this is something my great-great-grandmother would recognize and understand doing (even if she wouldn't have had circular needles or some of the modern fibers I have access to). Part of it is just the comfort of a big project where you have a nice expanse of knitting where you don't have to think too much about shaping. (Yeah, there's the dreaded "work as for left neckline, reversing shaping" on the current sweater, but I'm not up to that part yet).

I started out knitting again (back in 1997) on small projects - mittens and scarves and even socks - but I do have to admit, there's something about a sweater that I just enjoy.