First Jumper!

I'm really excited because not only did I acquire a lot of new patterns this week, but I found a pattern for a really pretty jumper that I really like. I've been looking around in shops for jumpers for a while as no matter how many I buy I always seem to have a deficiency and after ages of finding things that weren't quite the right colour, shape, or style, I thought why not just make it myself? so that's what I'm doing. Despite the pattern being from the 1983 Womans Weekly Knitting Book, it's really simple and fairly elegant and just looks comfy really. I'm knitting it with a 50% wool 50% acryllic DK yarn I bought from Kemps (who are quickly becoming one of my favourite places to shop for yarn - so cheap! such fast delivery!)

This is the pattern, and I'm knitting it in dark purple yarn. The thing I love most about knitting is that it creates such a sense of accomplishment. I'm now at the stage of pretty much being able to do all the basic things on straight needles, but I have yet to overcome DPNs and circular needles. Early on I realised that if I only knit patterns where I could already do everything before I started, I'd be knitting scarves for the rest of my life, and so now I just find things I want to knit and figure the rest out as I go. So far I've managed to overcome every hurdle and when something is finished it just gives me a feeling of immense accomplishment that I don't really get from any other aspect of my life except being a parent. 

I have a problem with getting majorly overexcited about new projects and then they tend to snowball and get out of control and then after a while I move on to something else. I have noticed this problem becoming less as I get older (for example, my book blog which I started on a whim after moving across the country has now been going strong for over two years), and I'm hoping that crafting in general will survive the lulls! I would really like to start learning to crochet and to quilt this year, as I have a really nice sewing machine I have never used! 

Anyway, you can see that my thoughts go round in circles and I've got totally off topic already! I've nearly finished the front of the jumper and I love the fact that it's pretty much just knit in panels, so there's not too much complicated making up to deal with, which is perfect for me as my stitching is basic to say the least! The only thing which annoys me and my tangentional attention span slightly is that because it's by far the biggest project I've undertaken to date, I am focusing all my attention on it and haven't been able to start any other little projects. This makes me slightly antsy as my Etsy shop is still woefully understocked, and I'm working on a couple of patterns which are hovering at being about half finished at the moment. Ideally, I'd like to get this jumper finished as soon as possible so that I can get on with something else, but at the same time I don't want to rush it and ruin it! 

I'll keep updating as I go and hopefully it won't be too long before I have pictures of the finished article!