Spring 2023 Project Planning

With finishing my ongoing projects this past month, I find myself in that flux period of wishing I had a project I could just grab and go but sadly all I can really do that with is a sock, lol, and sometimes you're just not in the mood for socks. Sweaters are my favorite thing to make and I try to always have one fingering weight sweater and one dk/worsted/aran weight sweater going at the same time so I can grab either depending on my situation and mood. I do need to pull out the sleeves on my most recent finished fingering weight sweater, but who wants to do that? No one, I'm pretty sure. You have to be in the mood for repairing all that work, and I really need to give unpicking the already woven in and blocked sleeve my full attention as well, so I'm trying to console myself by planning my bigger project that would be more portable. Here are the top 3 I'm deciding between at the moment:

I've wanted to make Crumb by Andi Satterlund ever since it was released. Her original Miette was one of the first sweater I ever made, and I wore it quite a bit except my stupid blocking pins rusted while it was drying and I've never been able to get those spots off my lovely mint version. Andi revamped the Miette pattern into the Crumb design and the big difference is the bust shaping was moved to the side, which I prefer anyway. SO I would love to have another iteration of this I can actually wear. My original one was in Cascade Sierra, which is  a cotton blend, and that was good for the warmer climate of Florida. I want to make up Crumb in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in the Seaspray colorway which I bought way back in 2016. Sheesh, lol. I've worked with Cotton-Ease before on my Sunshower Cardigan years ago and it stretched out quite a lot, so with this version I will definitely be making up Andi's size Medium because that's what has worked out in the past. So this one will be coming up sometime soon if not right now.

Next up on my choices is the Mudblood Cardigan by Tian Connaughton. This is from Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, which came out in 2013, and the magazine calls it the Mudblood Cardigan, but apparently that name upset some people because it is now referred to online as the "Hermione Granger Cardigan". It will always be the original name to me. Anyway, purchased 6 skeins of the yarn called for in the pattern - Universal Yarns Deluxe Worsted Superwash yarn in the Christmas Red colorway - from Craftsy back in  2015 when it was in their clearance and I've had it sitting in my drawer ever since just waiting to be made up. To be honest, I anticipate this being kind of a boring sweater to knit being just a plain stockinette design, but I really want to get the yarn out of the drawer and made into something and nothing else really grabbed me for this color and I do like the look of this sweater so sometimes we just endure the basics for a useful garment. *Spoiler Alert* I already swatched this yarn and it is drying as I type, so this one will probably be the first to get going.

My final choice floating in my head is Tierney by Andi Satterlund. I tend to gravitate to her patterns not only because I like the vintage style but also because I've made many of her designs before and I know what to expect with the fit, which makes it a bit more mindless to knit. I don't end up with all that much DK weight yarn in my stash, so I've never made this up, but about a month ago I found a bag full of Bernat Cassino yarn in this Rust colorway. This yarn is very much discontinued, but it's a DK weight mercurized cotton that has a nice shine to it. The sweater was designed using a cotton/hemp/rayon blend, so I think this will be a nice pairing. I also have nothing like this color in my current sweater wardrobe, so I think it will be nice to have something a little different than my usual.

And finally I've had this Haruni shawl by Emily Ross on my mind ever since seeing PurlsofthePast's version and seeing this was a free pattern. It's been quite a while since I've made a shawl and they are another project I like to have going in the background for a quick grab-and-go. I basically don't wear them except in the winter, so there's no pressure to complete them quickly and they are a great opportunity to use some of my hand dyed yarns that don't really translate into everyday wear because I of their more experimental color schemes. I have this skein of the oh-so-controversial Yarn Bee Hand-Dyed yarn in the Stonework colorway and I think this will be a nice way to show off the color variation. 

Whatever I start now, I will be happy to have a number of projects to choose from after finishing so many around the same time. Why does it always happen that way? I love to be in the middle of a project - that comfortable space where I already know the pattern and can just sit down and knit instead of figuring out starting or finishing them. I find I focus more on enjoying the process of knitting now than churning out lots of finished garments like I used to be as a younger knitter. I guess that's what happens when you've been doing something for over a decade. So crazy!

Anyone else have any exciting new patterns they are thinking of working up? I'd love to see them :)