Pam Alison Knits

We’ve had an unusually mild spring here in Eastern England so it feels surprising that the blossoms have only recently come into full flower, yet here they are. This being Easter weekend, I’ve taken the opportunity to wander through the fine city I call home and take a few snapshots for the album.

My knitting life has blossomed as well, though it has taken me a while to work out what I want to be knitting and I’ve had a fair few false starts. I began by sticking with my previous plans and casting on Brooklyn Tweed’s “Burr” cardigan using the gorgeous berry-pink cone of wool. I worked maybe five inches of the back before I realised it wasn’t inspiring me. Great wool, great pattern, both probably better suited to an autumn cast-on. The final nail in the coffin for that project was my purchase of a top and skirt in a slightly awkward shade of blue – absolutely gorgeous, but picky about what you’d wear with it. Bearing in mind my intention of buying the matching trousers, I realised I had the basis of a small “capsule” to mix and match which was in need of a cardigan to round it out. By chance I just happened to have two cones of Merino 4-ply from Woolyknit which have been sitting in my wool hoard for a few years, waiting for their moment in the spotlight. The shade is, I think, “Cadiz” – a medium-dark marine blue which matches the fabic closely, though I find photograps lie on that point.

The next step was to decide on a pattern, and I started off with the idea of a new version of the Slope Rib Cardigan which would need both strands of wool held together to make a thicker yarn (much like I was doing with the Burr cardigan). I’ve made several versions of the Slope Rib Cardigan over the years but this time it wasn’t quite what was called for and I abandoned it before I got to the end of the ribbing. I second-guessed myself at this point and decided on a lightweight cardi using just one strand of the wool. Another cast-on, another rib, and yet agin the feeling that this wasn’t the right project. Big sigh.

Finally, leaving my mind alone to mull over the problem whilst I worked on a sock (which I’m also not entirely feeling, but we’ll leave that for another day), it dawned on me that a plain, mid-weight cardi was called for – just as basic as it comes. One morning I put on the pink cardigan I knitted back in 2023 (the plain version of Martin Storey’s “Birdhouse” from Rowan’s “Moordale Collection 2”) and I knew I needed to replicate it. The next day, I was on the settee with the cones of wool and my needles, happily knitting from the start of the day to the finish.

This pattern is designed with what they call a corrugated ribbing and I keep promising myself I will try it at some point, but it gives quite a formal finish. I want this cardigan to look effortless, and I know the speckled effect that I used on the pink version worked well, so I stuck with that. Learning from my recent false starts, I began this project by working on a sleeve, which I proceeded to shoot through following all the instructions in the pattern, only to realise it was far too long. Now, I’ve had short arms my whole life and I’ve knitted tons of garments for myself; I know that I have to reduce the number of rows between each increase as I work the sleeve so I get to the right number of stitches in a shorter piece of fabric. Did I do that this time? No, I didn’t. Bit of unpicking, re-working it doing the best increase rate for me, and the first sleeve is done, less than a week from the decision about the pattern.

This time, the wool and the pattern are exactly what I want. It’s straightforward knitting which makes it relaxing to work on. I’m already having ideas about future projects for this year, and that is a good sign. When I’m struggling with my knitting it’s hard to see past the current project, but when I’m in a flow I have all sorts of plans popping up. It will be interesting to see which ones stay the course as we go through the year. For now, though, I’m just glad to be off the starting block and into the race with the project I’m calling The Replicant.