It’s been such a long time since I last wrote about my knitting so we’re overdue an update. Overall, progress has been slow, but it’s picked up again recently, and I’m pleased with how things are going.

The main item on my needles is the commission knit for my friend – her American-themed cardigan. I stalled completely on this for some time, just before shaping the shoulders on the back. When I picked it up again I made four attempts before getting the neckline at the back and the shoulder decreases just to my liking. Having accomplished that, I romped through the left front in a matter of days. Knitting is like that, I find: either I’m enthused and I don’t want to do anything else, or I’m not interested at all. I now have a plan in mind for when I want this knit to be completed, so that may encourage me to make steadier progress. My main concern is embroidering the stars onto it at the end. I’m not entirely sure that I can accomplish this to my own liking.

Whilst the commission knit was on hiatus, I took the opportunity to knit myself a quick hat. My previous knitted hat got left behind on a bus one morning on the way to work and I’d spent the winter in a more structured felt hat. I really like a knitted hat, though, because I find they are easier to pack away in your bag when you’re not wearing them. I made the new hat in exactly that same way as I made the previous one – guesstimating the number of stitches I’d need, knitting to a length I thought would be okay, then shaping the crown. The original hat was just slightly smaller than optimum, whilst the new hat is a little larger than ideal, but the marginal “fault” in sizing hasn’t been a problem in either case. The new hat has already become a constant companion, just as the old one was. I presume at some time in my future I will accomplish the Goldilocks hat which will be the perfect fit for my head. It won’t be long before I have another chance as I’ll need to knit a summer-weight version to provide rain protection on warmer days.

I like to make my hats in a ribbed stitch because it’s forgiving. As to the shape, I prefer more of a close-fitting beanie/watch cap shape than the hip, longer styles that are very popular now. I see people styling their longer hats by either tucking them at the back to create a droop, or letting them stick up above the crown of their heads. Neither of those techniques enthralls me when putting a hat on myself as I’m fairly sure they both count as “flappy” – my personal bête noir of garment styling. Where I think the elongated styles come into their own is when people have a lot of hair – easier to accommodate a pony-tail for example.

If the knitting itself has been slow, the same isn’t true of wearing my knits. As well as the new hat, I’ve been consistently wearing all of my favourite makes from recent years. Workdays see me rotating through my yellow cabled scarf-front cardi-jacket, and the two pink cardigans. At weekends I wear either of my blue jumpers (the one with the all-over cabled Aran pattern, or the paler blue with the lace panel) or the Big Blue Slouch. The Slouch is becoming a real wardrobe hero. Socks, of course, are worn pretty much every day at the moment. I didn’t quite knit the number of new pairs last year that I’d intended and I feel I still need a couple more pairs to be back to having a comfortably stuffed sock drawer. The temperatures recently have been hovering between glove and fingerless mitt levels. Perhaps when we are into April I will swap out the gloves I always have in my coat for mitts.

I still have a second not-for-me knit to complete this year and it’s one from the Moordale Collection book, so it sort-of fits into my theme for knitting all the garments from the collection whilst not totally fitting into the plan. I’m pondering the next garment from the collection to make for myself. There’s plenty of time for planning, but it’s never too early to start dreaming.