It All Starts with One Stitch

No matter how many projects I complete, it never ceases to amaze me that an entire sweater begins with one stitch. One lonely stitch on the needle. I don't always take the time to appreciate that first stitch, but this time I am, because this is more than a stitch, it's a beginning, a promise of more to come.

This small bit of yarn, twisted thoughtfully into a slipknot has bigger dreams than just being beautiful yarn that is soft to pet. (For you non-fibrephiles out there, yes, we pet our yarn. Sometimes we rub it on our cheeks and coo gently to it) There's nothing wrong with being beautiful yarn left in a skein. Yarn alone can be aesthetically pleasing.

I display my yarn stash proudly on an open shelf in my office because I love to look at the textures and colors. It's a shelf full of possibilities. And, yes, those baskets on the bottom are filled with more yarn. :) I have pared it down quite a bit after the move, believe it or not.

But I digress. Back to my current yarn inspiration. There is a customer who frequents the store my husband manages who is also a fibrephile, which means her stash is also out of control. We can't help it we see yarn and we buy it, not for projects but for possibilities. She had recently begun paring down her stash to make room for more and she graciously gave some to me through my husband who told her that I, too, love to knit. I say gracious because this is high quality yarn. 

This is Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. 55% merino wool, 33% microfibre, 12% cashmere. It's luxurious. And it's pink!! My favorite color! She gave me enough of it to make a sweater. I have saved this yarn for something special. I didn't want to waste it. I needed a project worthy of the size of the gift. I have flipped through piles of knitting magazines and books and swatched with every pair of needles I own (which is a lot, almost every size in straight, circular, and double pointed; and in metal, bamboo, rosewood, birch... I have a lot of needles.) I have finally found the perfect pattern for this yarn. 

It is simply called Scalloped Edge Pullover form KnitSimple's Spring/Summer 2008 issue. I usually don't knit with a yarn this small. Bulky yarns knit up quicker, and my drive for instant results makes a bulky yarn appealing. The finer yarns make such a pretty fabric though. And I tend to be hot natured and would be a lot more likely to wear a lightweight sweater over a thick bulky one, and the yarn is too beautiful to waste. So I gathered my gumption and started. I made the first stitch.

That one stitch will loop into another stitch and another until it becomes a row. Then another row will join followed by another. Pretty soon you have a section then the whole back and then all the pieces to sew together. 

And finally it will be a sweater, and I will wear it proudly. Sometimes I will study it and look at all the individual stitches. Maybe if I'm bored I will try and count how many stitches make up the entire piece. But the sweater would not exist had it not been for the first stitch. 

The longer the journey, the harder it may seem to begin. The accomplishment of completing that journey is always worth it though. Once this journey is complete, I will post pictures of the whole sweater.