how do I start making a sweater?

I have been coughing so hard that the muscles over the left sides of my ribs hurt.  It is an old injury that I aggravated while I was taking care of a very sick Koda Bear in Sitka.  I thought I was doing better but I have no stamina.  And the slightest cough hurts.  It is hard to feel creative but it is easy to sit and spin.

I am working with some lovely Corredale fiber that I have cleaned and carded.  It is not as soft as I might like but it has the most gorgeous chocolate color.  And I learn more every time I spin and card.  I put on a strange audiobook that was getting good reviews but I returned to the library almost immediately.  Much too odd for me.  Especially with a head that is not working at full potential.

After I got the first bobbin full, I started on a sweater that I have been thinking about since I saw it in the Interweave Crochet last winter.  It reminds me of  J Crew sweater I wore out about twenty years ago.  It does get me a new one but I am having such a problem concentrating on the pattern that it may take until next fall to finish it!  

Yes, my head is not in the game either.  The yarn currently varies a lot in width which is why that bit looks like it is not straight.  It is the same number of stitches but I hope blocking will really help.

I will get better.  It is just slow.  My creativity is basicall at the point of spinning mounds of fiber.  Not very interesting at all.