Knitting - Summer Sweater KAL

Over the past few months, I have been learning more about knitting, and the anatomy of the stitches, than I have up until this point.  As I mentioned before, I always though I knit "wrong", but I have since learned that I just knit in a different style.

My typical knitting style is Eastern Crossed, but I have been trying to get into the habit of being just an Eastern knitter. As much as I love the look of my twisted stitches, they are not always my friend. For my mosaic socks, they caused a couple of pairs of too small socks, and for certain stitch patterns, the twisted stitches can cause an unwanted look with the pattern.

So I started with a couple of baby blankets. One was a simple corner to corner seed stitch blanket, which I have finished and given away. The second one is an entrelac baby blanket, and is still in progress, but got put aside as soon as I was able to get started on a summer knitting project.

I decided to do something different, to stray from my comfort zone of socks, and knit myself a summer sweater. A while back I talked about a class by Patty Lyons that really helped me understand my knitting. I started following her on Ravelry, and this summer she has decided to do a Knit-A-Long of a really nice lacy sweater.

For anyone who is thinking of trying a sweater, I highly recommend this KAL! During the KAL, it is $7 for the pattern, and she includes loads of instructional videos as each clue is revealed.  After the KAL is over, she is offering it at a ridiculously low price of $7 of the pattern or $10 for the pattern, videos and modification note.  Corcoran Pattern on Ravelry - I also very highly  recommend joining her Ravelry Group as well for the KAL, since she has been amazing at answering questions in the group forum.

She has suggested a yarn (Classic EliteYarns - Song DK weight) and even has a supplier who is giving a discount on the cost of the yarn right now. Check out the Song yarn at FiberWild.

One of the other things that is really new to me is gauging and blocking. Normally I grab the yarn and needles suggested in the pattern and just start knitting. But for this one, I am actually following the instructions and knit up a test swatch, then blocked it to check the gauge.

My swatch! I used the Ballerina colorway of the Song yarn

I am starting to wonder if I blocked it properly.  When I look at some of the other pictures I see, it looks like other people have opened the lace pattern up a bit more than I have.  But I like the way it looks, and at this point, I have started the back of the sweater already, and am going to just go with it.  When I blocked it how I like it, I got the right gauge, so we will see what happens.

I keep needing to remind myself that when I block it, the sizing will change, because right now, I have my doubts about picking the right size to fit around the midsection. But I am only one and a half repeats into the pattern, so I need to be patient and trust the process.  Although you all know my history of patience LOL

So if you have ever thought of knitting a sweater, or have done them before and want something really pretty, give this KAL a try! As I said, Patty is wonderful at answering questions, and is very helpful!

I will give updates as the pattern progresses, and am hoping to be done by the end of the KAL on August 15th.  Wish me luck!