ink n paper, hooks and needles

About a month ago, I saw a post for a summer knitting bag and yarn combo from  Knitters Brewing Company  and  Prairie Bag Works .  I fell in love with the print on the knitting bag and the yarn looked bright and fun, so I went for it! The bag is roomier than I expected and I love it!  It's well made, too. It came with a double-pointed needle holder and a beaded stitch marker. (Mine is different than the ones pictured.) And, of course, there was yarn! About the same time, I bought the April 2019 issue of Simply Knitting that came with a supplement called Super Socks. I picked a pattern called Bubble-icious that had stripes across the top where the bubble texture is, but I thought they would work with this yarn.  And I think they did!

I finally took the plunge and started a sweater. As a fat person, I find it hard to take on the challenge of making fitted clothes, like a sweater. (Yes, I call myself fat - it's just a description, like short or blue-eyed.) Sweaters seem like they are hard to fit and a lot of work. Plus, it's really hard to find plus sized patterns that I like. Last winter, I finally found a pattern. A raglan-style cardigan knit in cotton called the Branching Lace Sweater by Sian Brown Knitwear Design in the August 2018 issue of Simply Knitting. I decided to give it a go. But I don't like knitting with cotton, so I needed a different yarn. I had a stash of 22 skeins of Knit Picks Andean Silk that I purchased more than ten years ago. It was past time that I used the yarn but I was still hesitant. It took an epiphany about relative cost to get me to use it. I realized I was hesitant because I was afraid I would mess up the project and ruin my beautiful, soft, silky Jade yarn.