I’ve been bitten by the bug: knitting for myself!

I have been ruined. Well, it’s not me that is suffering, but the rest of my family. Since the luvinthemommyhood Tops, Tanks and Tees Knit Along that I took part in during the spring I have been bitten by the bug and am loving knitting for myself!

A while back I had a bit of time on my hands in the evenings so I thought I might have a go at knitting another garment for myself. The Abalone cardigan cropped up a couple of times during the last KAL and it was on my list of things to knit. Best of all, I had enough yarn in my stash to make it – bonus! That should please the husband as I think he was more than shocked at the amount of yarn that I own and I’ve only been knitting for two and a half years!

As I have mentioned previously I used this cardigan to practice knitting in continental style. Initially it was driving me crazy as it seemed such a clumsy way of knitting. The good thing is that as I went along it became more and more natural and it has come the point where I really quite enjoy knitting this way.

It has taken me about six weeks to make this cardigan as I managed to mess up one of the shoulder seams and knitted and ripped out the front band twice. Patience is a virtue and all that!

I’m all done now, although I’m still not sure I love the job that I have done on picking up stitches on the lower corners, but I am done!

I knitted the Abalone cardigan using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran….if you are planning on using it yourself, be warned, a lot of dye came out in the wash!! Looked like I’d thrown a dozen blue loo tables in a bucket!

Things I learned on this project:

• applied i-cord bind off

This was a new one on me. As the pattern notes suggest, there are lots of tutorials online. I used the video from Knitting Tips by Judy (knitter to the stars no less) via You Tube

It’s not a quick way to bind off, but it is easy to do and gives a really nice finish that I am pleased with.

Are you a knitting perfectionist? Do you keep going on something until it is just right? Or like me do you give it a good go, but eventually lose patience and hope that nobody will notice the errors that you have made along the way?