a girl's first sweater

I've been knitting for 3 years now and I can't believe it's taken me this long to be able to say this but...I'm making my first sweater!!!!!! When I got the job at Annie & Company I told my friends for days that I was secretly hoping my boss would tell me that she wanted me to learn how to make a sweater. Come my first day, my boss said that very thing! I couldn't believe my ears. I spent a week scanning through patterns on Ravelry and looking through books in order to find the perfect sweater. It wanted to find a pattern that wouldn't be too far out of my skill level but was still something new that I could be challenged by. One night on Ravelry I found the perfect sweater. It's called Aidez and the minute I saw it I knew it had to be mine. It's so comfy and cozy looking and I even loved the color that it was made in originally. Clearly, this was meant to be. The next (and most important) step was picking the perfect yarn. I knew I wanted something neutral in color and soft to the touch. It only took less then a day and a little guidance to pick The One. I decided on Rowan Cocoon on the color Frost ( which is a natural/tan). This particular yarn in 80% Merino Wool and 20% Kid Mohair which means it's super duper soft and I pretty much love it. I'm so happy with my choice!

I started the sweater as soon as I possibly could. I was so excited! I quickly realized that this sweater was just right for me. It has tons of cables and knits together really quickly so even doing a couple rows makes it seem like I've accomplished a good amount. So far I've finished the back piece and I'm working on one of the front sides. Everything's knit on straight needles so it's done in pieces and sewn together. In order to avoid sleeve seams though I think I'll knit the sleeves on circular needles. I read a lot of the posts from the other people that made this sweater and many of them made the whole thing in the round but I decided early on that I didn't want to take too many chanced by changing the way the pattern is written. Better to air on the safe side for my first sweater. The last thing I want is to get too ahead of myself and go changing things and making mistakes.

So that's my first sweater so far. I really can't wait to have it to wear. It's gonna be great! As I get more done on it, and other projects I'm working on, I'll be sure to post about it here. Working at a knitting store has really lit a fire under my ass as far as crafting is concerned. I missed it a lot and am still sad that my sewing machine didn't get to make the trip (yet) but for now I'm really enjoying all the new opportunities I'm finding through knitting. It feels amazing!