Strathcona sweater - Knitting my grief together

TopsKnitting

Feb 15

Pattern: Strathcona sweater by Tara-Lynn at Good Night Day
Yarn: Loopy Mango Merino no. 5 in Camel, Red Riding Hood, Spicy Hot Pink, Tweed Flamingo, Bubblegum
I used Cattywampus Crafts color blocking notes & kit

I knit my first sweater! I’ve had it on my yearly goal list for a few years now and finally decided to make my own dreams come true. In a moment of deep sadness and desperate need for something to do with my hands, I splurged and purchased the kit.

No regrets. It was the perfect grief project for me in the week after my dad passed away. If you know, unfortunately, you know. Knitting is the perfect car activity as we drove across the country to be with family. I had to use my mind to learn new skills and refresh old ones, I had to use my hands to create. I don’t know about you but I almost always must be making or learning something in general, especially when the realities of life get really tough.

The pattern was really wonderful for a quasi-beginner like me. I have knit maybe once before many years ago. I’m familiar with it but certainly not skilled. My stitches are a little loose for sure, but other than that I found the pattern easy to follow. The hardest part for me was figuring out how to start the underarm.. I had such a mental block that I couldn’t understand for a while. My least favorite part was doing a sewn bind off for the hem. I tried Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off for the cuffs and much preferred that method. My favorite part was the repetitive meditation of knitting… and squishing the yarn with my hands. :) Shout out to all my instagram friends who gave tips along the way! Y’all are the best. Side note: Internet friends are real friends. Be nice to others because there’s all kinds of awesome people to get to know!

I added a little bit of length in the body & hem, made the sleeves 2 stitches wider and made the cuffs a bit smaller because of yarn chicken and I wanted them more cinched.

The yarn is like the softest hug. The colors cheer me up. I never would’ve thought to match these colors together but Cattywampus did an excellent job with the color story. I love wearing it!

I tried blocking a sweater for the first time. Tara-Lynn recommended I steam block the bulky yarn. I don’t know if I did a good job or if it even worked..

It felt really good to learn some new skills and to make a garment, when my sewjo is all but lost. I still haven’t gotten my sewjo back and I’m trying not to be too down about it. I know it will come back with time but its hard not to have my favorite creative outlet in my grieving. Plus I have all this fabric waiting for me, and no more yarn.