There is a moment, perhaps half way through, more likely two thirds, when I am at my optimum project moment. For every substantial knitting or crochet project there is that terrible balance of enjoying the making and yet wanting to finish.
Do you know what I mean? I love the making but there is something really brilliant when you finally sew in the last end and hold up you finished woolly – that ‘TA-DAH’ moment.
My biggest struggle is found in knitting when I am making a garment. My latest project cast-off this week is a boxy fairisle cardigan made with Stylecraft Highland Heathers.
I have enjoyed using the yarn. The colour has a depth to it which is beautifully subtle, almost a tweed. The blue has flashes of pink and green. I also like the simple fairisle motif and the contrasting edge. Throughout I have been intrigued to see how the project will turn out. I have enjoyed the simple stocking stitch rhythms. So it is with mixed emotions that I have cast off the final sleeve. I don’t even mind the sewing up and this time I invested in using the magical mattress stitch. (FANCY).
Although I know this cardigan will be a welcome addition to my winter wardrobe, I now slightly grieve its loss.
The crochet equivalent would be blanket making. My ‘V’ stitch Vintage Virus Blanket which I started at the beginning of lockdown has been my longest ‘WIP’ of this year. There were moments that I questioned why I started it at all. But then almost 50 rows from the end, I began to become quietly addicted. I was frequently found in a corner, secretly hooking away a few sneaky rows. When I had finished the blanket I missed its warm comfort and its familiar pattern.
In Homer’s Odyssey, the character of Penelope waits for her husband to return from war. She has many suitors in that time and she keeps them at bay by promising that she will not consider anyone until she has finished her weaving. Every night for three years she unravels the work she has done the day before. Well it might have kept the pesky chaps at bay, but perhaps she was also enjoying the simple pleasures of an excellent ‘Work in Progress’.
As we head towards Christmas I have a number of commissions on the go and a few gifts that I want to complete. But I have yet to decide on a delicious ‘work in progress’ that tempts me into snuggle into the sofa and I cannot almost bear to finish.
The Cardigan I have made is 9794 by Stylecraft – I have used colourways Loch and Gorse and I made mine in the Medium size. I am a Stylecraft Blogstar so I am able to view and access Stylecraft yarns before they have been released.
The scarf in the photos is Arabian Nights knitted using West Yorkshire Spinners sock yarn. There is a post about that project here.
You can find my simple free pattern for the V-stitch blanket in this blog post.