Hurrah!!!!!

Today was a momentous day for me! About two and a half years ago I went to a Knitting and Stitching show at Harrogate. It was a lovely day, I met up with an online friend and bought lots of lovely things. One stand had Sirdar Sublime for sale. It may have just been launched, I can’t remember. On the stand was a gorgeous girls cardigan, in a lovely shade of red. I fell in love with it and had to buy the pattern and yarn there and then.

So, I started knitting this cardigan not long afterwards but for one reason or another it didn’t get finished. It ended up in a bag in my knitting basket, and taunted me every time I opened it. Anyone who has had one of those projects will know what I mean when I say my heart sank a little every time I saw it or thought about it. I don’t know what the problem was, I just couldn’t get on with it. I still loved it and really wanted to get it done but it just didn’t happen.

Then, last summer I decided to get on with it, and did until I discovered I had run out of wool for it, so back into the basket it went. All I had left was a bit of the second sleeve, the button bands and the collar. I didn’t think I’d get a match for the yarn but had no idea what else to do, so ordered some from eBay with the plan to try it and if it matched just keep on knitting and it if didn’t then to make a whole new sleeve and just hope it wasn’t too noticeable. I ordered the new wool in November and it took me until Thursday to finally get on with it again. The new wool did match perfectly - phew!!!

The button bands were a nightmare. They were done in moss stitch which I’ve never done before (except by accident when I’ve been trying to do a rib but made a mistake) and they gave me headache, as did the collar which was also done in moss stitch and is a sailor collar. I was so tempted to just dump it back in the basket and leave it for another two years but I knew if I finished it I would feel so pleased with myself.

So, today I finally finished it. The sewing up took ages (I hate sewing knitted garments up, they never look as good as they should) but I persevered and it’s all done. Not as great as it could be, some of the stocking stitch is a bit uneven and there’s a ridge on one sleeve where it had sat on a knitting needle for so long but I’m hoping blocking or a wash will tighten it all up a bit. It’s also too big for Millie and slightly too small for Ellie.

But I have finished it and I am sooooo pleased it’s not going to haunt me any longer. And, more amazingly, for the first time since I started knitting again three years ago I have nothing in progress. Yes, I have lots of things I’d like to make, but nothing actually on the go. My knitting basket has been sorted out as well.

I am going to enjoy having nothing on my needles for one night, and then make a decision about what to do next tomorrow.