Ingenuity

One of my goals this gear has been to knit mySELF a sweater. I have been scratching my head over how exactly to afford yarn for an adult sweater since we are strictly budgeting and trying to make ends meet and my knitting habit is difficult to fund when the bills are pressing. Two mornings ago, after feeding the baby at 4:00 am and giving the toddler meds for teething, it came to me... Recycled yarn!!! I felt like a genius but then felt a little silly for not thinking of it sooner.  Months of mulling it over never produced this idea. 

Then I remembered a tired bulky red cardigan from Old Navy stashed away.  I have always liked the color (which isn't done justice by these pictures, but it's a nice bright Christmas-y red) but found the sweater a little uncomfortable.  It had pockets sewn onto the front on each side about at the hip, that added a lot of bulk to the sweater and the collar was heavy and overlapping, again, just too much bulk.  I think bulky yarns are more comfortable with more ease and only one layer throughout. So last night while engrossed in a couple episodes of Fringe with Jesse, I disassembled it and unraveled most of it. I am almost finished  with that part of the process and am looking for "the perfect" pattern for recreating something I might like more with the cotton/acrylic blend. If you have any pattern recommendations I would be so grateful! I haven't yet figured out how much yardage I have but obviously enough for a sweater for me and I am excited to stash this yarn away to pull out later!  I am thinking about this Lavender Jacket from Pickles.  I really like the Shalom Cardigan but the pattern only comes in S/M size and I would need a large, I believe, and I'm not entirely sure I'm up to the task of modifying the pattern.