It has begun. The cables. The color. The excitement. It’s all so delicious.

I searched and SEARCHED for my next sweater pattern and just couldn’t decide. I DO want to make this gorgeous lil’ baby (The Nordic Cardigan):

nordic cardigan knitting pattern

…but am waiting on my shipment of cashmere/silk yarn (yes, you heard me…right this red hot minute I’ve got some beautiful, sumptuous cashmere/silk being spun up for us in the mill) to dye up into a similar charcoal shade … and then I’ll attempt it.

But for now I’m creating this gorgeousness.

It’s the Dark and Stormy pattern by Thea Coleman and I am in love with it.

dark and stormy knitted cardigan pattern

Here’s the deal:

•The Cowl Cami I made helped me to realize I could actually make something that fits.

•The Simplest Sweater I made showed me I could make an actual SWEATER, with sleeves and all.

•The Shapely Boyfriend Cardigan proved that I can make a cardigan, with sleeves, with buttons and button holes and a shawl collar.

So here we are… and I’m upping the game again.

•This time we’ve got sleeves. We’ve got buttons and buttonholes. We’ve got a shawl collar. AND…

•We’ve got cables.

dark and stormy knitting cardigan

Oohhhh, yes. Cables. Ugh. They have given me such fits in the past on previous cabled sweater attempts (failed attempts).

But this time I am beyond determined (is that possible?) to finish this sweater and to absolutely LOVE it.

OH! And in case you’re wondering what that black arrow is, I am showing you where a line seems to run horizontal on the sweater. I didn’t want you to worry. It’s just there because I blocked (wetted and pinned to dry overnight) the top part of the sweater, and once dry, I continued knitting down and the bottom part has not been blocked yet. So it makes a line. But it will smooth out once all done and blocked for real.)

I am already wild about it.

I’ve decided to try more difficult sweaters even if they take longer to make because I’d rather have 5 sweaters I absolutely adore and feel amazing in, than 10 that are all just okay and leave me feeling dumpy and “unfabulous.”

So. That is the progress I’ve made so far. It’s slower going of course than the basic stockinette sweaters I’ve been making, but little by little I am making progress. (Oh, BTW, the yarn is my Glass Blue superwash merino worsted, which I will dye up more of just as soon as my dyes arrive in the mail!)

I’ve had a lot of comments on Facebook and my blog saying what a fast knitter I am…I don’t know if it’s so much fast, as I just do a lot of it.

I do knit continental (yarn in left hand), which does make for rather fast ribbing, seed stitch or any other combination of knitting and purling.

But if you’d be interested in my speed knitting tips, do let me know below! I have a couple secrets up my sleeve.

Alrighty…. have a beeee YOU tiful day!

Chandi

 P.S. Remember that wedding stuff I was desperately asking you about two weeks ago? It’s all done. YAY! Yup, hotel, plane tickets, car rental, wedding coordinator, you name it. And I have plans all layed out for dress-buying, so I am STRESS-FREE! WOO HOO!!! Thought you’d like to know. đŸ˜‰
P.S.S. I have been using this great iPad app to keep track of my progress on the cable chart: JKnit Pro HD:
best knitting app
Highly recommended. You can keep track of all your projects AND it lets you highlight a row in your chart and double tap when you’ve worked a row to move the highlighted “bar” up one. It’s way cool. It’s a life-saver really.
Buh-bye!