Just under three months later, it’s done.

I kind of finished it twice. I first finished it a week ago, and I was so excited about being able to wear it to the Knit Night North Christmas party I sewed on the snap closures and buttons as fast as I could and wore it. A few days later I undid all the closures and buttons and sewed them on better; the snaps are still so stiff that I worried that the fabric would pull, so I secured them better and I’m much happier with it now.

There is so much to love about this cardigan. Apart from the fact it’s my first ever garment, it’s also incredibly well-designed and well-instructed, even with the limited space that most knitting magazines give for patterns. This only cements, to me, the genius of Ruth’s patterns, and why I think everyone should be knitting her designs.

Where this pattern succeeds and others have failed to get me to make a garment is I think in the cabling. I can get addicted to cables, and I develop the mentality of ‘oh, just one more cross…’ very quickly. It also gives me something to chase after, which makes the going easier and quicker.

I started with the 43″ size, and then decreased to the 39″ to accommodate my more hippy figure, and it’s resulted in a longer garment as I did the decreases accordingly and didn’t try to do them quicker. I like it this way: hip-length things have always looked good on me, especially if it’s well-fitted. Which this garment is. It also gives the cardi a lovely drape, especially when I wear it unbuttoned.

Princess seams shape the body, the decreases and increases done on the wrong side, which is brilliant because you can’t see them, and also the reverse stocking stitch hides it all so well. The reverse stocking stitch background also gives a lovely platform on which the cables really pop out and make themselves known.

All the garter stitch details – the lower band, the cuffs, the button and neckband – are wonderfully squishy. Especially around the gorgeous collar. Garter stitch, folded over, is possibly the squishiest thing ever. The collar is shaped with short rows, and as a bonus, in garter stitch you don’t have to pick up all those wraps! You just keep going and you get a superb result.

I’d previously never seamed anything before, garment or not. Luckily, Ruth helpfully furnishes her blog with seaming tutorials which makes the job incredibly easy. She also dedicated an entire blogpost to this design, with handy tips and tricks. If every designer did this, we would all be fearless.

While this is my first garment, I will say that the construction has totally convinced me of seams. Yes, I know. I think working in the flat, certainly for a cardigan, means that you can divide up the work much more easily, and you know you can stop at the end of a row. I think I might have keeled over from sheer boredom if I’d had to knit for miles and miles round and round and round.

Seaming also gave me a break from the knitting. I got tired of knitting the buttonband at one point and decided to spend the rest of the day seaming up the sleeves, which was kind of therapeutic, in a weird sort of way. The break gave me the impetus to get on with the rest of the band, because it really meant that there wasn’t much more to do!

Setting the sleeves was a daunting prospect, but thanks to Ruth’s precise maths and my (luckily) good and exact gauge, there were no issues at all. Everything fit into place perfectly: no rucking, no tugging, no fixing. I could never have been more pleased.

I found the buttons at Loop, much to my relief. I didn’t really fancy having to go on a massive button-hunt. The warm black ceramic gives warmth to the colour of the cardi, and are light enough to not weigh down the band but still strong. Again, having a garter stitch band makes it easy to mark a straight line on which the buttons go. That and lots of coil-less safety pins.

The fabric is glorious. It was a sunny but very cold day today, but I didn’t feel the least bit chilly while getting these photos taken, especially considering how deep the cut of the cardi is. It’s great on its own and it layers very well under a coat.

I think the only bit that I wish I could have done better were the sleeves. They came out a little long, but then given what I said about the squishiness of folded-over garter stitch, it isn’t a massive issue. Plus the extra length keeps my hands warm.

I’m very proud of this project. Not just because I actually finished something so big in such good time, and not just because I’ve finally accomplished the one thing that has always eluded me, which was knitting an actual wearable object that wasn’t an accessory.

But I am so proud – so very unspeakably proud – to be able to call such a talented and brilliant designer my friend. Thank you, Ruth, for something so beautiful and so intuitive, and for being so inspiring and encouraging.

Pattern: Montview Cardigan, by Ruth Garcia-Alcantud (www.rockandpurl.com)
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed Aran in Dusty SH728
Needles: 5.0mm for the body, sleeves and bands, 5.5mm for casting on the lower band and casting off of the body, 6.0mm for casting on the cuffs and casting off the button and neckband. 

At long last, I give you Luciole.

Back during the run-up to Knit Nation 2010, a bunch of my friends who were all taking Anne Hanson’s classes, decided to each knit one of her patterns in the legendary Wollmeise yarn so that they can show her – and latterly, Claudia of Wollmeise – their handiwork. The result was an array of beautiful lace shawls, all of Anne’s designs, in spectacular colours. I’m sure Anne was chuffed to bits.

So I cast on this shawl at the end of last year, thinking that I would have it ready to wear when I would meet Anne for the first time at the Socktopus Cornwall Retreat at the end of January. I picked a yarn that I have always known was destined to be this shawl, and started knitting quite happily.

Except me being me, I was pretty slow about it. So by the time Anne caught sight of it, I was still 17 rows away from finishing.

She admired it nonetheless, being the warm and kind sort that she is, and said it would look beautiful once it’s done, given how gorgeous the yarn was.

While I was away in Cornwall, knitting this shawl, I felt a little lonely and out of sorts. The big hit my depression took was only a couple of months prior to this, and I was at a point where I wasn’t even sure if I should’ve gone to the Cornwall retreat at all. So, with this shawl in my lap, sitting by the fire in the reception area of our hotel, I rang Ruth.

We chatted for a little bit, her listening to me, me listening to her, eventually both of us making each other giggle a bit. It’s how it works, most of the time, when things aren’t so bad with me. Having cheered me up, she told me to go have fun, so I did.

I abandoned the shawl, for a while. I think that it was because since I didn’t finish it in time to show off to Anne, I wasn’t really in a rush to finish it anymore. I don’t remember when exactly I picked it up again, but when I did, I was pretty shamed to find that I only had 17 rows left to do. About a week’s worth of work.

So I marched on. But for good reason, all the while I was knitting this, I never forgot the last time I had it in my lap. By the fire, in Cornwall, talking to Ruth.

In the end, I made my own deadline: I wanted to finish the shawl before the weekend when Nick and I were going to visit the Savill Garden at Virginia Water, where they’d recently reopened their Rose Garden.

Thanks to Ruth’s online blocking tutorial, I managed to use my blocking wires effectively, and without continually stabbing myself with them, and set this shawl out to look its very best. The body of the shawl is covered with little clusters of yarnovers, giving the effect of fireflies in the distance. The edging – knitted on both sides but entirely readable and so worth the effort – depicts the body and wings of fireflies up close. You can see the points as their tails, with their wings just above.

Hence why I said this yarn was meant for this shawl. Fireflies knit up in autumnal fiery colours.

I thought it appropriate to photograph the shawl here in the Rose Garden, Anne being a big gardener and lover of plants. And with the sun out and the roses in bloom, it looked pretty good in its setting.

It might have been a tad warm for it; the yarn is a glorious blend of 65% cashmere and 35% silk, but I didn’t wear it for long. Just long enough to take these shots. I needed the shawl in as close to pristine condition as possible, after all.

I did show it to Anne, at Knit Nation this year, in the end. The smile on her face was so big; she remembered the shawl from Cornwall and was so happy to see it all finished and looking spectacular.

If anything, her smile was nearly as big as Ruth’s, when I gave it to her as a belated birthday present, and as something she utterly deserved. She hadn’t knit herself a single thing since I last saw her in December, having worked – and she was still working – so hard on her designs and getting herself published that I figured she deserved a brand new knitted object that was just for her.

Pattern: Luciole, by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Nimu Helvellyn
Needles: 3.25mm for knitting, 3.75mm for casting off

Intent and outcome are rarely the same thing. And you know, I’m glad of that.

Way back during The Bothered Owl Christmas party last December, where many friends were met, much food and drink was consumed and naturally, a bit of yarn was purchased, I bought this yarn from Fyberspates:

I wasn’t going to get anything else that evening, but I spotted this colour, and surrounded as I was by my friends, I held up the skein and shouted, “Does this skein look like my husband?”

I actually got a few ‘yes’s. So I bought it, and resolved that Nick would get a hat.

Ahh, but what hat?

Pattern: Windschief by Stephen West (westknits.com)
Yarn: Fyberspates Scrumptious High Twist DK
Needles: 4.5mm and 5.0mm

This pattern was an absolute joy to knit, and made even better by the yarn changing colour on me every so often. The yarn was in fact so perfect not only for the project but for my state of mind at the time that I was compelled to email Jeni to let her know how much her colours were helping me get over my current blues, and how it made me incredibly happy that her beautiful colours were making a lovely hat for my wonderful husband.

I finished this hat back in December, but I never got an opportunity to photograph it, largely because it spent a lot of time on Nick’s head or in his coat pocket, in anticipation of going out into the cold.

So on a sunny day at Hadlow College, Nick let me boss him a little bit to take these photos. In June.

It was worth it to be able to see these colours in the best light. Colourful enough to be radiant, but deep enough to suit a man.

Or maybe I’m just lucky to have a man who can get away with these colours.

I wish Jeni would name her colours, because I would love enough of this one for a cowl for myself. Maybe another Eternity Scarf…

I wonder if I could ask nicely…?

I have been a rubbish blogger already this year, what with only one post thus far, and more so as I’ve had a few finished objects that I haven’t blogged about!

Let’s start with this one:

Pattern: Shur’tugal by Alice Yu (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Socktopus Sokkusu-O
Needles: 2.5mm

Now, let’s start with the pattern. Shur’tugal is a pattern I have knitted loads of times. The first time I knitted them was for my lovely old housemate, Zaa, from Southampton days. We lived together for four years and therefore she was absolutely entitled to asking for a pair of socks from me. She says she wears them to football matches, and is gently hinting for another pair.

While I was knitting Zaa’s socks, whose feet were bigger than mine, I needed to borrow a pair of feet to check that the fit was okay. Ruth was with me one afternoon so I borrowed her foot. The sock fit very nicely indeed. So nicely in fact that I dug around for a bright skein of happy yarn and made a pair for her, too.

This pair, at last, is for me.

The genius of this pattern is that it is remarkably simple but so satisfying. It looks great in all kinds of yarns – I’ve knitted it with a yarn that pooled, a yarn that was semi-solid, and now this yarn, a most remarkable yarn indeed.

Why? Because Alice, who designed the sock, also dyed the yarn.

The yarn is called Sokkusu-O, which means Original, and feels quite similar to Blue Moon Fibre Arts‘ Socks That Rock, except I feel I like this more. It is bouncy and strong and feels wonderful on the needles and on my feet. Also, I love the name of the yarn. When Alice first announced what she was going to call it, I had to say it out loud in a sumo-wrestler type voice. And then giggle.

Next, I have a finished object which I think is already my most-worn knitted item:Pattern: Eternity Scarf by Michele Wang (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Madelinetosh Vintage in Nutmeg
Needles: 5.5mm

A scarf that is just a loop long enough for me to wrap double around my neck, with no ends that flap about. Perfect for being active outdoors. When I get warm I just undo the second wrap and leave it hanging around my neck, and if I wanted to, I could even pull one loop up over my head. It is an awesome thing, and I love it so much I can’t wait for an excuse to make another one. It’s been brilliant in the supercold winter we’ve had.

I was skimming my friends page on Ravelry when I was reminded of this pattern – typically, it’d sat in my queue for, well, forever – and I thought, hey, that’d be a neat thing to have while I’m outside a lot and will be so neat and unfussy. I love scarves, but it’d be nice if they didn’t trail down or get caught in stuff, especially things like bushes.

And as you do, I checked to see what yarns people have used to knit this. Madelinetosh Vintage caught my eye for two reasons: a) they make gorgeous semi-solid colours and b) I knew exactly where to get the yarn.

And thus at Loop‘s very first Wollmeise Saturday, while everyone else bought skein after skein of Wollmeise, I came home with two skeins of this glorious golden yarn. It’s not really a colour I would normally pick, but the gold was rich enough that it didn’t render my skin sickly, and it went with just about everything I owned, which tended to be on the fuchsia/purple/deep pink side of things.

Hopefully there will be another FO before the month is out. I can’t wait to finish it, I can tell you that much!

Over a year ago now, the very brilliant Alice had the equally brilliant idea of running a lace shawl knitalong via Twitter. We would get clues every so often to continue our progress and questions and sharing could all be done via the wonder that is Twitter.

I know some people have their Twitter feed running in a widget on their blogs, but I don’t really dare put mine up. Given an occasion I can swear several shades of Dulux colour card blue, so I thought it best that I maintain some degreee of decorum.

The knitalong ended last August. I was still knitting, because I am a slow sort. But also maybe because I wanted to enjoy the yarn I was using.

My first ever skein of Wollmeise. I won this skein at a charity bingo game that was hosted by Alice not long before she started the knitalong project and I recall not trying very hard to win anything else afterwards because I was so pleased with it. They’re not immediately my colours, but the shawl pattern was called Aurantium Blossom (Ravelry link), which referred to orange blossom, and I figured, clearly, it was meant to be.

I like lace knitting. I like reading charts, because to me it’s like running a program in my head. I’m married to a software engineer who codes all hours of the day, and he can read lace charts for that reason. It’s a bunch of symbols telling you what to do next. Ones and zeros. Binary. Lovely.

But again, I am the slow sort, and also the easily distracted sort. I abandoned the sunny, happy lace shawl for a while. I have no idea why. Eventually I got fed up of all the half-finished things I have lying about the place and decided to tackle them one by one.

Imagine how dumb I felt when upon pulling this shawl out again, I had all of 20 rows left to do. Twenty. Twenty rows with nearly or over 300 stitches on, but twenty rows nonetheless. Embarrassing, really.

It took me twenty minutes to read the chart, read the knitting, read the chart again, count some stitches and read the chart some more just to find out where the heck I was in the pattern. Once I worked it out, I was off again.

I sometimes write notes on my patterns, telling me alternative ways to execute something, or directional notes or so on. The trouble with leaving a project for so long is that I spent a lot of time looking at these notes and thinking, “What did my past self mean when she told me this?”

Sometimes I do expect to unearth a neglected project and find its pattern, scribbled with the words, “About bloody time, you idiot.”

In the end, those twenty rows took a mere couple of weeks, plus distractions. I cast it off. I waited for a warm day when there wasn’t a lot to do, and I washed and blocked it.

It was like pinning out the sun.

Pattern: Aurantium Blossom by Alice Yu
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% Merio Superwash in Sonne
Needles: 4.5mm

This is, above all, why I love lace knitting. A bundle of loops and stitches, all damp and lifeless after a bath, gets carefully pulled out, stretched and pinned, and suddenly every little detail comes to life. Orange blossoms near the top, orange flowers in the middle and finally edged with leaves.

I thought it was going to take wing and fly away, back into the sun.

I wear this a lot now. I like that when I’m on the tube or the train, reflected in the windows would be duller, flatter colours that get swallowed up by the tinting on the windows. But not this shawl. Oh no. It defies that sort of thing. It feels like nothing could swallow up these colours.

It is only matched by a carpet of varieties South African daisies, and that makes me incredibly happy.