Wardrobe Limits?

On Ravelry, we call completed items "Projects".  Since my last blog entry (last August), I've completed 24 Projects, and only 6 of those were gifts.  Drawing upon my school math skills...that's 2.25 new wardrobe items, for myself, per month!

I know there needs to be some limits. But what are they?

Space.  I started to write that living in a smaller space as we do, that imposes limits.  But I'm accustomed to small spaces, and am really, really good at reorganizing and finding ways to fit more at will.  (Hint...roll your sweaters, it reduces wrinkles and you can squeeze and fit more into a drawer).  And at some point I'm really comfortable tossing out the old.  So...Space is not a wardrobe limit.

Need.  Seriously, I can still approach a day or event, and realize I don't have exactly the "right thing".  And sometimes I laugh, because I do have the "right thing", but it's not fresh and new, or I turn to it too often, and so I want the NEW "right thing".  No, it's not a need, but a gap in my wardrobe, so toss out Need as a wardrobe limit.

Inspiration.  HAA...never seems to be lacking.  Thanks to Ravelry and Books and Pinterest, the new ideas keep coming. I'm certainly not interested in making lots of stockinette sweaters.  If that's all there was, then Inspiration would certainly be a Wardrobe Knitter's limit.  BUT...I keep seeing intriguing new construction methods, color or stitch combinations, flattering shapes. And I want to try them!

Time.  Last August I made a big change in my business.  And it has given me more personal time, if I chose to have it.  Or I could work more.  Sometimes I have ideas for work that do absorb me, and this limits my knitting time.  But...the numbers don't lie...I've been making 2.25 new wardrobe items per month since last August.

Color.  This might surprise anyone who actually reads this...this is perhaps my greatest Limiting Factor!  I face this when I consider a new yarn purchase, or matching a stashed yarn to a potential project.  Do I already have a Pink Cardigan?  Do I already have a Pink 3/4 Sleeve Cardigan, or Short Sleeve, or Long Sleeve?  Do I need a different shade of pink, do I have a pink pair of pants that NO existing Pink Cardigan works with?  Well...there are moments when I realize that I already have one of those covered.  So...when I get all colors...and all shapes...and all seasons...covered...WILL THAT BE MY WARDROBE LIMIT?

Empires Rule (lately)

It's been awhile since blogging, I've been in the throes of finding a new location for my business. Finally in a couple weeks I will be packing and moving everything! And the Moving Sale is going well so I will have a little less to pack. VERY excited about the new business plan!!

But I'm still knitting during all the turmoil! It is essential for my balance, as is going to Curves to work out in the morning.  The only week knitting did not help my psyche, was the one frogged item in Euroflax Sport Linen...that yarn just boggles me as to what style would look best with it...but that battle will be fought again another day.

I did not realize it until today, that my most recent 3 "successful" projects involved the same kind of empire style bust shaping. Seriously, I did not intend to do this. But perhaps it is something inside me wanting to feel young and lively, because that is what came out. It's summer, and these last 3 garments really do make me smile!!

What was happening...These were all worked bottom-up, without waist shaping, either in a very slight A-line or inverted A-line. And then when I got to 5" below my normal armhole, I did some narrowing. And then the more extreme adding of width under the busline with short/wide VBD's, plus a little on the sides. Added short rows for more length over the bust, which allowed the horizontal line of the pattern from front to back to actually be horizontal (!!).  And then I also decreased on the side in the over-bust area of the front, so that by the time I got to armholes, the back and front were just about the same width.

Light & Lovely Violet

Green Fun

Pasley Sage Rosemary & Nettle

Organic Cottons Wardrobe Challenge, Report 6

Closing in on the end of my stash of Sublime Organic Cotton yarn!  Just finished the Organic Nutmeg Lavaliere, a short-sleeved cardigan that will work with the shell from last report.  Two more garments might complete the Challenge.

This was knit in a top-down one-piece construction method. I don't use this method quite as often, and the results just do not always turn out as hoped.  Raglan is perhaps not the best look on my rounded shoulders, and then paired with my rounded upper torso, it just turns on my CRITICAL eye.

Construction-wise, I get a more precise fit in bottom-up styles, especially if working front and back separately.  But with a secret goal to someday become a well-balanced knitter, fearful of no project, these other construction methods must be practiced and vanquished!