Yarn Along 2015.12: Barn Sweater Begins

Joining with Ginny's Yarn Along this cloudy, drizzly Wednesday.

So far this year, everything I've knit has been something intended as a gift for someone else.  With the completion of the Rosamond socks last week, my knitting focus has changed.  It's time to knit something for me.

This new project has me both excited and intimidated.  Last summer, I determined that I would like to make an adult sized sweater (as opposed to the baby & toddler sized sweaters that have been my repertoire so far).  Not just any adult sized sweater, but a sweater for me.  And then, just a few months later, came Issue 11 of Taproot Magazine, with a sweater pattern in it!  Not just any sweater pattern, but an adult sized pattern with the name of Barn Sweater.

Barn Sweater.  Sounds just like me.  I mean, I spend a lot of time in barns.  And, I'm usually doing physical labor that induces sweating.  LOL.

But seriously, this sweater pattern spoke to me.  There it was, the sweater I am supposed to make. (Yes, I believe in signs from above.)

So now I had the desire, and the pattern.  I would need yarn, lots and lots (pattern calls for approx 1440 yards for my size) of yarn.  Hmm.  Cost might be prohibitive to carrying through this project.

What happened next?  A yarn sale, in November, at Knit Picks, that happened to include the perfect color yarn for me.  Wool of the Andes worsted in Forest Heather.  Green has always been my favorite color, and the tweedy look of the yarn was exactly what I pictured my Barn Sweater to look like.

Okay.  Desire--check.  Pattern--check.  Affordable yarn--check.  All I needed now was time.  Time?!? Uncheck.  Smack dab in the season of Christmas present-creating madness.  Barn Sweater shelved until after Christmas.

After Christmas, Mom showed up at my door with a skein of sock yarn and a request that I knit her a pair of socks for her birthday in February.  Commence immediate knitting of  these socks, and push back the start of the Barn Sweater.  Then came a scarf/cowl swap I wanted to participate in.  And a sock KAL after that. I had so much fun participating in the sock KAL last year (and learned so much, too), how could I possibly sit it out this year?!?  So I signed up for those.

Well, the Rosamond KAL is coming to an end.  Soon the socks will be off in the mail to their intended recipient (along with the very first jar of the first run of my homemade maple syrup for this year).

Now is time for my Barn Sweater!  I'm so excited to finally, nearly a year after getting the urge to knit myself a sweater, more than six months after being inspired by a pattern, and four months after purchasing the yarn, cast on for the collar of the sweater.

And, truth be told, rereading the pattern I'm a bit intimidated.  Can I really knit this?  Can I really knit a sweater of this size and have it turn out wearable in public?  I'm not even sure I totally understand all of the directions.

*gulp*

Be brave, Kris.  Be confident, Kris.  I can do this.  If I get stuck, I can ask the owner of the LYS (who taught me to knit in 2013) for help.  I can.  She's nice, she'll help even if I didn't buy this yarn from her.

So I cast on.  And then I just did what the instructions said.  Nearly one week and almost one skein of yarn later, I have this:

a completed collar for my sweater

Today, I will start on the directions for the next section of the sweater.

Of course, the Yarn Thief has been very curious about the box of yarn I have out now that this project is underway.

I'm not sure if she approves of my yarn choice and wants the rest for herself, or if she thinks I should have chosen a different yarn and is trying to 'kill' the remaining skeins so I will have to start over with a different yarn/color.