Sweater Knitting

I am knitting a sweater.  This is my second sweater. And I feel slightly obsessed about it.  It's beautiful, soft, lovely, and progressing along.  It's not difficult to knit, so I can go along mindlessly, enjoying the feel of the yarn, and the beauty of the stitches and the color of the yarn, and feel satisfied that soon (a couple of weeks maybe) I'll be wearing this gorgeous sweater and feeling so proud of it.

And I'm very  happy about it.  Knitting a sweater that is.

Which leads me to thinking about knitting and why some projects can be overwhelming and frustrating and others can be very satisfying...and the basic differences between the projects are very small.

For instance, I HATE knitting scarves.  I've discovered this after starting a few and begrudging them after I was about half-way through.  I've had to FORCE myself to finish one and am finally almost to the end of another.

But, sweaters are much more knitting than scarves.  So, I can't figure out why scarves make me so crazy and anxious...and hateful towards the yarn, the pattern, and the scarf-y-ness of the project.  It just seems to go on and on and on forever without end.

I "get it" why I enjoy knitting socks and hats.  Both are relatively small projects, and with socks you get to go through all the different parts so it's like knitting 5 projects in one.  It doesn't get boring, the smallness of the needles fits my hands very well, and I love the practicality of the project.

But sweaters, especially plus-sized sweaters, are a lot of knitting...and a lot of knitting that's the same (giant tube around the belly).  I'm not getting tired of it, though, nor frustrated, nor do I want to stop.  In fact, I can't wait to get home everyday so I can sit and knit.

And just so I can share the beauty that I'm enjoying every evening, here is the sweater so far.  Lovely isn't it?  Just lovely.