I want to knit a sweater.
I don’t know what kind of sweater, but a burning desire to make a sweater of some kind has struck, and being confronted with a new obsession has made my old concerns look small. Yes, I have only knit flat pieces before. Yes, I will need to take my own measurements to make sure I get enough yarn and make the sweater large enough I can wear it. Yes, I will need to figure out how to add sleeves and decrease for the neck in a way that looks natural.
Do I have a pattern yet? No, nor do I have enough yarn to make myself a sweater, or the budget to buy the yarn I would need to make a sweater. But! I have the heart of a dreamer, an active imagination, and a connection to the internet. I can look up fancy yarns I will never be able to afford and fair isle sweaters I would go cross eyed trying to make and sigh longingly going “one day”. If I do make a sweater I already know I’ll likely be knitting it, I just like the texture of knitted items for clothing more than I do crochet.
I think one of the things feeding my desire comes from the weekly emails I get from yarn shops I’ve visited, often showing pictures of beautifully patterned shawls, hats, scarves and, you’ve guessed it, sweaters. Part of the desire is just the owning of the piece, some of the patterns are just so beautiful I want to put them on and show off. Another part is the desire to make the sweater, to feel the yarn and watch as the piece comes together bit by bit. To be able to hold it up at the end and say “I’ve made this” and be proud at my own work.
And who knows, maybe I will get around to getting a pattern and some decent yarn one of these days. Maybe cast on a simple cable knit turtleneck to start with, even if I don’t really have the neck for it. That first sweater probably won’t be the intricately patterned cable knit that my emails are sending me pictures of but I think, if I can complete it to my own satisfaction, it will be just as rewarding.