Friday catch-up

The one with all the knitting

There’s nothing like the onset of colder weather to activate full-on knitting mode. I mean, I do knit throughout the year obviously but the clocks going back and the start of darker evenings and colder mornings still acts as some sort of trigger on my knitters brain - the yarny equivalent of preparing for hibernation maybe?

Either way, I have been assessing my seasonal wardrobe and found it to be somewhat lacking. I have plenty of shawls, scarves and mitts, that’s not a problem but my wardrobe of knitted sweaters…hmm…that’s another story.

Some weight gain, coupled with changing tastes and a preference for lighter weight sweaters - thank you menopause - means that I am not really wearing most of the handknit jumpers and cardigans in my wardrobe and something of a refresh is definitely in order.

In addition, it has dawned on me that I haven’t knit a garment for myself since my Dad died in March last year. At the time I had a cropped, 4ply cardigan on the needles, a project which I didn’t really want to complete as there were too many memories tied up in it. It’s funny how our emotions get tangled up in our knits isn’t it, even if we don’t really want them to.

I have knit a lot of things since - and even have a half finished Love Note sweater on the needles - but I’ve been tending to favour simple projects where I don’t have to measure myself or faff about trying things on.

The picture above shows 1200m of woolly gorgeousness in the form of a 5ply Guernsey wool recently bought from Ewe and Ply. I’ve never knit from a cone before and it’s a very pleasing size and weight - with the added bonus of no yarn winding or faffing needed before you cast on. So far I’ve only knit a swatch with it (yes - I know - I’m as shocked as you are) but it feels wonderful to knit with.

I think I have enough yarn for a cardigan with maybe bracelet length sleeves so I was looking for a top-down construction that I can try on as I go. My top 3 contenders were:

Ankers cardigan by Petite Knit

Holly Blue cardigan by Stolen Stitches

Inbetween Dreams by Meiju K-P

I could happily have picked any of them but I opted for the Ankers cardigan just because I like the simplicity of the yoke.

So yes, a lot of words to say that my sweater knitting mojo has returned and I’m hoping to have a new woolly cardigan to add to my wardrobe soon - well at least before spring. How about you? Have you cast on anything new or have you been bitten by the Sweater Season bug?

Making me smile:

• I’m taking part in the #AgeGratefully23 campaign being run over on Instagram. It’s a fun prompt-a-day challenge which you can dip in and out of. It’s been a lot of fun finding new pro-ageing accounts to follow, even if I do keep reading #ProAge as #ProRage. Although - it’s not entirely inaccurate :)

• The Shirin Shawl is a new pattern release from

  Kavitha
  of While I was Knitting. Is still on my to-knit list and there is a KAL ongoing for this too - do check out her page if you have yarn that’s calling out to be a warm, wrappable shawl.

• The Everyday Knitter book club here on Substack has just started reading The Familiars by Stacey Halls for our November read - you are very welcome to join us - just tap below for more information.

Right, I’m off to do battle with that swatch that I mentioned. I rarely swatch (as you know) but I’m determined to do this cardigan right and end up with a garment that really, truly fits me as opposed to something I ‘make do’ with.

Wish me luck, I may be sometime.