This feels like a great start to the weekend: I have a new cardigan. But not just any cardigan, this one is the first item of clothing I have ever knitted! Woo hoo, champagne feels most definitely in order (but then when isn’t a good time for some fizz I ask you?! 
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This is Wisdom by Kim Hargreaves using Rowan Tweed wool. Delicious stuff, knubbly in the most gorgeous purple with blobs of blue & white cropping up every now & then. It has contrasting pocket linings & sleeve edges which I have done in lime green. The pattern is knitted in bands of double moss stitch & stocking stitch.
My trials in making this have been documented along the way, and it’s taken me about a year. yep. That’s long. I have only had Xmas present scarf making to compete with this on my needles. Apart from that I’ve been mainly, er, knitting this. Clearly every now & then. I had lots of ripping out. I know for a fact that I got the sleeves’ pattern wrong, not understanding the instructions until reaching the same point on sleeve two & realising how I should have done it (it was a minor error I am living with).
The final push took me a long time. I’d finished the actual knitting yet the stitching up was slow. Why you might ask? After so many months of intermittent beaver-like activity surely the stitching would be easy? My main strength is sewing, surely this should be a breeze & the reward?
Hmm, well there were two factors that prompted drag. Firstly (& this sounds REALLY pathetic) the evenings were getting too dark to stitch this dark wool, seriously! The light in our lounge is appalling & I just couldn’t see. In the end I finished the sewing, yep you guessed it, in my sewing room. What genius!
Secondly I was in a panic after sewing up the body & trialling the sleeves. They seemed WAY too short. I put my head in the sand, turned the other way & hoped they’d stretch overnight over the course of three or four weeks by lying in a pile.
I overcame this by speaking to my all knowing knitting & sewing guru, my Mum. She suggested basting them to see just how short they really were. So I did. And yes, you can see they are “bracelet length”, but nothing that my monkey-sleeved Renfrew can’t compensate for. I sewed the buttons on last night (in my sewing room). So the verdict after this shaggy dog story? I am loving it! I know there are flaws, but I learnt such a lot knitting it. Making pockets, that even one stitch buttonholes are bigger than they seem, & of course how to rip out & pick up. I managed to knit a neckband with picking stitches up & knitting all in one go. I never tried anything like that before. Even the sewing together was a new experience.
As for the wearing? As you can see today I am working from home (hence the gloves!!) & am nice & cosy. The cardigan is cute & warm. It’s got a nice shape to it, & whilst I would have preferred sleeves to match my gorilla arms, they are not out of place with the rest of the style’s cropped-ness & nipped in waist. I think when fastened, the buttons get stretched a bit – possibly I should have knitted a size larger, who knows. But definitely a timely completion as purple is one of my winter colours (funny that, considering I started it last winter!)
So what next do you ask? That is a good question. I quite fancy crocheting or knitting a cushion cover ….any suggestions?
