#2: Knit a sweater for myself that I actually wear

I tried knitting myself a sweater before. I failed. But the experience always stuck with me, namely the feeling of "Seriously, you should be able to do this."

But sweaters are intimidating. They are a huge undertaking, and if you aren't sure what you're doing, it's easy to stuff the whole thing in a bag, put it in the corner of a closet and, a couple years later, rediscover it and use the unused skeins for something else. Like a hat.

Sweaters require many skeins of yarn. And if you want your sweater to feel nice, you have to pay for the good stuff. And it feels silly to spend so long making something for yourself that costs twice as much as what you could spend at, say, T.J. Maxx, which would fit you just as well.

Now I realize that is not the point.

The point is that I just did something kind of incredible. I knitted a freakin' sweater! For myself! I stuck with it; from the shoulders to the bottom, the sleeves, the buttons. It's the length I want, the color I want, the style I want.  By no means is it flawless, but it's something I can wear in public without feeling weird about it.

 

Seven skeins, seven months.

Done!

(Pattern: Slinky Ribs from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard)