Love Is All You Knit

A while back I mentioned that I was waiting for inspiration to strike.  I decided the best way to find my inspiration was to start thinking about what exactly I want in a sweater.

First off, it has to be a cardigan.  I want something that is warm and cozy and can be a great layering piece.  Something long-sleeved with a v-neck and that hits mid to lower hip.

Secondly, I want something that I can wear fully buttoned. I can’t stand wearing flyaway cardigans, though I love the way they look on other people.  They drive me crazy when they flap back in the wind while I’m walking.   In order to get a cardigan that I can wear fully buttoned, I need to incorporate some waist shaping, seeing as there’s a moderate size difference between my upper and lower halves, and I don’t want to make it so large that it’s baggy on my top, or so small that it streeeeeetches across my lower half.  If I’m gonna custom design this thing, it had better fit, right?

Speaking of custom designing your own sweater, have any of you ran across Nina’s Sweater Class on the Knit Picks Blog?  I am so glad I came across this online video knitalong/tutorial because it has been extremely helpful.  It is broken into sessions with video instructions as well as accompanying printable notes where you can fill in your own body measurements and it walks you step by step through calculating your gauge, measurements, increase/decrease sections, hemlines, necklines, and sleeves. Its perfect for someone who wants to learn how to make the sweater in their mind come out successfully on their needles.