It’s sweater weather!

On the morning of October 31st 2023, we in Louisville, KY experienced our first hard frost of the season. How fitting ☺️ so, to fit in even more, I thought I’d make some sweaters!
Sweaters are one thing in knitting that has been rather more than just daunting. When I started knitting, I set Intentions--clear intentions to not even worry about sweaters. I just wasn’t going to ever do one, I decided. So that immediately eliminated my worry about all things sweater from the get go. Jumping to today, I’ve been knitting on knitting needles for five years solid. Things have definitely changed.
Personally, I have never been one to buy clothes regularly. I have clothes, they fit okay, whatever. This has been really emotionally taxing on my journey as a woman in a changing body in an unhealthy world. With lifestyle, life (in general), and diet changes, came size changes. I went from 11 years of staring at my anorexic body in a mirror for multiple hours a day, exercising 40+ hours a week and a restrictive militant vegan diet, to a period of being lost and being in limbo for 5 years. My size changed, my diet…. Hmmm… yeah…., my values changed. It took me multiple years to realize after 70 lbs, 80 lbs— my clothes didn’t fit. Most distressing was that my child large Dale of Norway Christmas sweater I scored at goodwill no longer fit. Tragedy! (With everybody else’s problems in this world.) But to me this was a tragedy. This was a loss of self.
This year has been a year of great leaps for me. I don’t fit into my Dale of Norway, nor am I close to it. But it’s okay because the community I never realized I would find from knitting and fiber arts has pushed me to believe I can make a sweater. I will have a more special Christmas sweater, and it will be made for me, by me, with every stitch a meditation of how far I’ve come, with every stitch a protest to the meaningless fast fashion industry, with every stitch a proclamation of my values (and high among them, self love.)
This sweater is the journey I never knew I would take. It is long awaited now. I am prepared. I an more than prepared. I took a class, made two baby mock ups, made a baby version, started another baby version, got started hastily on my own, got real and…yes, frogged. Now I’ve found all the right supplies. I’m ready.
I’ll update you!!