The Novice Cardigan
I love when projects just come together. A few months ago I had purchased the new Viola substrate from Harmony Provo. I had been waiting for this substrate to arrive so I could purchase this delicious colourway I had seen at the front of the Noro magazine. When it arrived I went straight to buy it, but in person it wasn’t what I had envisioned. I’ve encountered this a lot in my short time knitting. There’s something about seeing yarn in person and feeling it and vibing with it. This colourway was just not vibing with me. So, just as I was going to admit defeat before even starting, I noticed another colourway they were unpacking and it was love at first sight. This bright, happy pink you see now. It was magical. It was a done deal and I purchased my skeins before even knowing what I was going to make. There was just something nostalgic for me. It wasn’t till much later, upon completion of my project, that I realised it reminded me of paddle pops and fairy floss. The treats of my childhood.
As the month went on I was chatting with my fav knitting homie Mel and telling her how I wanted to elevate the yarn, she suggested I grab some mohair. I went through the Gepard mohair wall and picked three. I couldn’t pick one, so Mel looked at me with a smile and said, why not all of them! Yep, I left with all three, she is my knitting pusher. Would you believe that wasn’t enough! As I was swatching I realised it needed just something else. So I went back into the store and bought yet another mohair. Four mohairs total!
I was ready to sew and was just about to start another Cardigan no.7 that is until Mel mentioned how she was hosting the next knit along at Harmony and that she was using the Novice Cardigan chunky edition pattern. I checked out the yoke aspect and I thought that would really highlight the yarn. Mel was right and my cardigan was really taking shape. I would change mohair colours as my main yarn changed colours. It was causing me to be really moody since I was looking at it so closely, but Mel assured me that it was going to look good and to just focus on the bigger picture.
While all this was going on I kept stressing about buttons. My husband could only chuckle at me because I didn’t even have a wearable garment yet, but here I was stressing about the perfect buttons. As luck would have it, my brother in law was coming to visit and he currently lives in my hometown (Sydney) so I asked him to go to my favourite button store for me. He facetimed me directly from the store and he picked up the most perfect buttons for my project, amongst other buttons for other projects. I’m a lucky duck, I know!
With all that progressing it was just time to put my head down and knit. It took me 3 months total for this cardigan and that’s with some pretty long breaks in between. I’m so, so happy with how it turned out. All the stressing was for nothing because it came out better than I could have ever hoped for. The feel of it too is truly magical. The Noro and Gepard yarns are just destined to be together. I’m glad I got it done but now I wish we hadn’t gone into Summer yet, so I could enjoy wearing it for just a little bit longer, but I guess Autumn is around the corner.
