Pam Alison Knits

For a while there I had a plan for my knitting which would probably see me through the first quadrimester of 2025 (do you remember that I’m splitting my years into three parts to make it easier to plan and track progress?). First order of the day was to finish The 1986. For my second project I had fixed on the idea of another sleeveless vest-top, this time using a pale pink British Wool and following an old pattern from Rowan. In the past few days I have started to crave a new version of a grey jacket/cardigan I first knit ten years ago. The pattern is Burr by Brooklyn Tweed and the original colour choice made it a wardrobe staple that worked with so many outfits.

There really is something very satisfying about this knitting pattern. The simplicity is elevated by subtle details – the way the ribbing extends into the stocking stitch at the sides and on the sleeves, for example, and those diagonal strips of eyelets that mirror the shaping of the v-neck. The original pattern has a shawl-collar, but I decided to go with a basic neckband, keeping the change from the ribbing of the button bands to garter stitch. It could look incoherent, but instead each element adds to the whole. This may not be the world’s greatest photo, but it does remind me just how good the cardigan was and what an ideal use it would be for the grey Flashing Lead cone of Shetland wool.

However, I hadn’t reckoned on just how much I would want to dive straight into this glorious pink cone of wool which was half of my second order from J C Rennie. I deliberated long and hard about which colours to invest in this time, which seems odd now as the two I chose are exactly “my colours” and I can’t imagine anything better. Not only did I immediately want to use the pink, which is named Amaranthus Mix, but any idea of knitting the Burr cardigan in grey flew from my mind. A deep, saturated, berry-pink Burr is all I can think of, my heart’s desire, my precious.

Now, I haven’t completely taken leave of my senses; I still intend to finish The 1986 before I dive headlong into this new project. It’s more that the pale pink wool has lost its allure and the other greys and blues must wait their turn. Of course, the pendulum will swing once more and I will be glad to pick up those quieter hues, calm my spirit and work on versatility. Knitting can’t all be mad moments scintillating with colour, any more than food can all be raspberry jelly in a cut-glass dish. But sometimes….