Heart-Shaped (picture by Alex)

You might remember this sweater from last week’s outfit post! Well I wanted to revisit it this week and talk a bit more about the process :) I picked this sweater after a bit of a dry spell with knitting. I hadn’t knit at all during the summer and I was excited to pick something cozy to knit for fall. Whenever I take on a bigger project like this, I do a bit of research first to estimate how much it will cost me, read through the pattern in case there are any tricky bits, and search on Ravelry to see how other people’s projects have turned out. With every project I work on, I have to make sure I really love it otherwise I know I’ll never finish it!

That definitely wasn’t a problem here. I love the base color yarn I chose- Malabrigo is so soft and squishy and delightful to work with. Even better, it’s pretty affordable as far as high-quality yarns go.  For the hearts, I luckily had enough yarn leftover from this project for each of the three different colors. It took me a little over a week to complete since the pattern is very straight-forward and easy to follow. The hearts were the more time-consuming section, not surprisingly, since I had to keep untangling the yarn from itself.

This sweater is not super form-fitting, so I like to wear it belted like this to give it a little more shape. If I were to make another one of these, I would add some shaping in the middle section so that it nips in at the waist a bit. I would probably also make full-length sleeves, because cute as half-sleeves are, I kind of feel like it’s “go full or go home” when it comes to sleeve-length.

Tell me: For the other knitters/crocheters out there- are you working on anything currently?

Hey There Sailor Sweater 

As soon as I stumbled onto this pattern on Stefanie’s blog, I knew it would be my next knitting project! Not only do I love the stripes, but I loved the simplicity of the pattern as well.  I eagerly ordered my yarn from KnitPicks and waited for it arrive.  Since I don’t own anything with the classic red and white stripes, those are the colors I chose to make my sweater.  The pattern was well-written and easy to follow, so knitting it up was a breeze.  The only thing I might change is that the yarn is bit fuzzier than I would like, but a quick brush with the lint roller usually cleans all that right off.  I love the nautical vibe of this sweater and it’s perfect to wear on those days that are sunny, but there’s still a bit of breeze!

I’ve been knitting less than before and I’m not working on anything at the moment, which is so unusual for me!  I find it more difficult to knit when it’s warmer outside because you do get a little overheated with a knitting project on your lap!

Tell me: Are there any other knitters out there? What do you knit during the warmer months?