So, in last week’s post I wrote about being happy to have hit the 8-inch mark on this Christmas knit. Just imagine how I feel now that I’ve got 23 inches done! When I photographed it I’d just done the armhole shaping – you can see my cast-off stitches – and this is always when I feel like I’m on the home stretch with each piece of a garment. I am really enjoying my little calm spell each day when I can work on this. It’s usually the time when I’m sitting with my final cuppa, before weariness starts to set in.

Now I’m into my stride with it, I’m enjoying the design details of the garment. The ribbing at the start and end of each row breaks up the reverse stocking stitch, and there’s an interesting stitch feature on the back as you head up towards the shoulders which reminds me of something Marion Foale did on some of her sweater designs back in the 1980s. It adds a bit of interest to what could be a lot of plain work.

I’ve set myself a vague goal of finishing this by the end of the month, but I think that might be a bit of a stretch. It feels like we are still at the very beginning of September, but this time next week we’ll be halfway through. We’ll see. I think if I finish the back before the weekend, then three weeks to complete the two fronts seems about right. If I don’t finish the back until the end of the weekend then I expect I’ll still be working on this one in October.

One thing I will have to do at the weekend is tip out my button box and see if I have buttons to suit this. If not, I’ll have the fun of choosing something charming from the incredible selection that exists in the modern world. It’s a good job Norwich doesn’t have a dedicated button shop or I’d be in big trouble. Hmmmm, a button shop…. I like the sound of that!

I hope your knitting or equivalant crafts/interests have been going well this week and that progress is happening.