Last weekend I cast off a bright red Black Basalt cardigan that feels like it’s been an unfinished part of my life for so long I’m no longer sure when it began – just that it was a time when I really wanted that cardie. This is partly about the Lockdown’s disruption of the time-space continuum which makes the passing of days impossibly slow whilst months can disappear overnight. I know my cardigan began at a time when we could be with other people. I have a clear memory of enthusiastically knitting at a picnic table in Victoria Park with 3 friends, wearing my winter coat, working down the yoke and admiring the engineering of the seamless shoulder shaping. That places it somewhere during the Rule of 6 period that was between the summer and Tier 3. But how is it possible that it’s taken me 5 or maybe even 6 months to finish? In my defence I was briefly interrupted by a pair of urgently-required socks and then distracted  by similarly important mittens. 

Or perhaps the truth is just that without the social scaffolding of knit nights, chats in the shop, and outings with friends, I lost my knitting-momentum way and the knitting stayed idle for more months than I’d like to admit. I don’t want to be a fickle knitter who gets bored of her knitting projects when the cliff-hanger episodes of the yoke are over, and we’re onto the samey-samey stocking stitch bit that goes on and on without any twists in the plot till you get to the bottom. Thankfully I was finally rescued by a lifeboat with two crew members: 

(1) A new pair of jeans that reminded me of my original urge to make that bright red cardigan, and of the ridiculousness of it grinding to a halt just 2 sleeves away from being finished.

(2) A new sweater crush: Ever since discovering Trouville I’ve been longing to cast on this riotously multiple coloured fairisle cardie, but I was far too stubborn to start while the old red one was still on the needles. 

Two remaining balls of Brusca 8b, 1 weekend, 2 sleeves: Could it be done? On Sunday night around about midnight, I cast off the second cuff. The sweater was blocking on Monday and had buttons by Tuesday and I haven’t taken it off since. It was a sprint of a finish but the sweetness of getting there – oh my! And Trouville? Yes, she’s well on her way now too – thank you for asking.

The moral of the story? Choose your yarn and patterns wisely. If you really love what you’re knitting and you really want the thing it’s going to be, you will get there regardless of global pandemics, occasional dips in your knitting mojo, or even unexplained changes in the time-space continuum.