Planning the NEXT project.

OK, let's not get into my list of unfinished projects; I am merely doing research at this point. I haven't even purchased the yarn. . . yet.

I decided that I have a hard to fit body. My rear end is too big, I have no waist, and my arms are too short for the standard-sized sweater. I also prefer a neckline that is not too low and a sweater that is long enough to cover the aforementioned over-sized rear end. So I have given up trying to find a sweater pattern that already fits me and I have begun to research how to modify a sweater pattern myself with out botching it up (see previous post).

In my research, I have found a book that I thought I would pass on to others, should you, too, have a hard to fit body. The Twisted Sitters Knit Sweaters, A Knit-to-Fit Workshop by Lynne Vogel, is a sweater making class wrapped up in a paperback book complete with a "hand-out" of a "Fitter List" which you can use to record your knitting journey. For me, this would mean that I could go back and re-write my mistakes and do the pattern again, correctly.

Because the author and her "twisted sisters" dye and spin their own yarn, she advises the reader how to classify yarn using gauge, wraps per inch, and yards per pound etc. This makes it easier to select a substitute yarn for those patterns for which the suggested yarn has been discontinued or is outrageously expensive. On the other hand, you can use the information to rework the pattern to accept another gauge yarn -- something I have not always been too successful with in the past!

All in all, I found the book very useful to my cause and I can't wait to dive in and knit my next sweater to actually fit me. Happy reading! er, um knitting!