Pam Alison Knits

I’ve been out and about recently, but then I’ve also been sitting at home working away at my knitting and I already have one complete front piece for my mega-cardigan, the Big Blue Slouch. I don’t think I have enough wool, so I’ve ordered an extra couple of skeins just to be on the safe side. If they are not needed for this, they can be used as an accent colour in another project from the book.

I am very pleased with the way this first piece has worked out. I used a slightly different method to cast off at the shoulder and I’m happy that this will make for a neater seam than I’ve been achieving of late. That’s especially important on this design, as the seam extends down past the elbow. I didn’t use the short-row shaping which I had been contemplating because I found instructions online for a way to cast off in a series of “steps” but to smooth the transition so that the edge becomes a neat slope. It feels rather more like the usual stepped method which I feel comfortable with, but with the benefits of the short-row shaping method. We shall see what I think when I am ready to seam the shoulders together.

Another area I’m very fond of is this knitted-on front band. It is worked in a half-twisted rib where you knit into the back of the knit stitches on the right side of the work and then work the rib normally on the wrong side rows. As you can see, this gives a nice effect which breaks up the usual corn-row look of ribbing. It almost gives a woven texture which I think looks very neat indeed. It lies nice and flat and, perhaps the most enjoyable thing of all, means that I won’t have to work the whole band when the cardigan is almost finished. Hurrah for little wins like this.

I took a day trip to London recently to catch up with the Tate Britain’s Rosetti exhibition. It was a really interesting display with tons to look at and read. My favourite painting was Proserpine, which is the image featured on the cover of the wall calendar I bought as a souvenir of the exhibition. The model for this painting was Jane Morris, wife of William Morris, a lynchpin designer in the Arts and Crafts movement. My photos showing my knitting progress feature two William Morris fabrics. It’s fun to think that both my bedding and the lovely “Strawberry Thief” dress have a loose connection to this beautiful painting.