Saturday, November 1, 2008

NaKniSweMo -Day 1

In which I return from a long blog absence to document my adventures knitting a sweater in one month.



Knitting has been continuing but life has been busy and many of my projects need to remain secret for a while longer so I've not been posting here. Today I've embarked on a new challenge and want the public accountablity factor to influence my progress so I'm committing to posting daily or until my project is complete.



NaKniSweMo is National Knit a Sweater in a Month and occurs simultaneously with NaNoWriMo in which participants write a 175 page, 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I'm not a writer but I am up for a challenge and work best when I have a deadline so I'll be attempting to knit a 50,000 stitch sweater during this month.



I had hoped to knit two sweaters this year and while I've completed 3 baby sweaters and started two adult sweaters for myself (both are languishing on the needles) I've not accomplished what I hoped for 2008. My goal for November is to complete the lovely Cosima in Berroco Cuzco yarn which I purchased on my trip to Webs, aka Yarn Mecca, this summer. Although I don't know the exact stich count for this sweater I"m assured that most adult sweaters meet or exceed 50,000 stitches so I've decided to aim for 1500-2000 stitches per day and attempt to track stitch totals while I knit to see how close I come to the target.


Last week I wound my yarn into cakes and swatched so I knew the recommended size 10 needles would allow me to get gauge. Some of my fellow knitters began at midnight but I'm too old for late night knitting. I woke early this morning and eagerly cast on the requisite 122 stitches for the back and began knitting 2 x 2 rib for two inches and then decreased to 85 stitches to begin the pattern rows. At this point I was supposed to switch from size 8 to size 10 needles and was very chagrined to discover that I had knit the ribbing on 10s. Not an auspicious beginning but I frogged and began again. Wish I could count the stitches I knit twice! Found this on-line calculator very handy for achieving even decreasing without too much math on my part. Finished the ribbing and knit another two inches of pattern rows. I'll leave you with today's progress ( 2447 stitches to date).



(Disclaimer - The yarn color is not very accurate in this picture. I'll be trying for a better picture tomorrow.)

1 comment:

Kathy said...

Good luck with NaKniSweMo! Cosima is so pretty! I hope you enjoy the yarn and knitting!

Kathy
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