Georiga Cardigan

 
I've realized there's quite a few sweaters and projects that haven't made it over to this blogosphere so expect to see some new things in the next few weeks.

Keeping knitting affordable is always a concern of mine and it's why I love Knit Picks so much. I can make a sweater out of quality yarn that isn't going to keep me from making my student loan payments.

That said I recently have been dabbling into more luxury yarns. On a whim I  bought a skein of Madeline Tosh Light from Windy Knitty. This eventually became the Sad Day Shawl. I quickly became pretty obsessed with the Madeline Tosh line. I mean, look at all of those effing colors. I had caught an eye full of a color named ginger when I bought my first skein of Mad Tosh but they only had one skein in stock and the more I looked at it the more I knew I need a whole sweater of this stuff. It took me a little bit to decide on pattern but when Laura pointed out Georgia I knew that it was perfect. A simple, classic cardigan ideal for showing off a show stopping yarn.

After reviewing my purchasing options (and determining no Chicago yarn stores had any in stock) I realized that I would have to buy online and I had my heart set on ordering from Webs. If I'm going to spend that much on yarn, even better if I can get a discount! In addition, none of the Madeline Tosh yarns have dye lots and I felt the most confident in the expert yarn handlers at Webs giving me the best three skeins together so I didn't end up with some crazy ugly variations. (At this point I know people will point out that I can alternate skeins every few rows and to that I will say. No. I will probably never do this. It's too fussy and involved. So I will get the best color match I can, but variation and difference can be some of the most exciting things about knitting with artisan dyed yarn.)

Although it took me about three months of waiting for the color to come back into stock I finally got my hands on this yarn. Look at those colors!! Definitely worth the wait. Now, I know I'm really crazy about this yarn because I'm knitting a sweater ( A SWEATER) in sock yarn, on size 2 needles. Not really my style, if you know anything about me. But I've been surprising myself over the last few months with the projects and yarn size I've been choosing. I know that this is going to be a long term commitment project.

 
I pick it up in between projects, or when I simply get sick of working on something and so far it's been working. I've put the sleeve stitches on holders and am working through the body. It's just lots of long, long rows of stockinette stitch. But it's a nice break from all the lace (LACE?!? Who am I???) projects I've had on the needles.