Oh do not be deceived my friends. This may look like quite an ordinary little cardigan but it is much more than it seems. This cardigan represents the beginning of knitting freedom for this knitter.
Until now, I have pretty much been a pattern follower to the letter, using the recommended yarn - even choosing the same colour. My problem is that if I am looking at a pattern in say, a foresty-green colour, (which I generally like), then it will be the colour that draws me in as much as the actual garment design. Which can be pretty limiting because if that same pattern was in a hot pink (which I am not fond of, not even generally) then there's a fair chance I won't give the pattern a second look. I seem to lack the imagination required to picture that design in foresty-green. My brain just doesn't work that way - perhaps I am too literal.
What my brain can do though, is dream up a picture, from scratch, of something I would like to make. And thanks to my new found best friend, knitting guru, Elizabeth Zimmermann and her Knitting Workshop book, I can work out how to make it. For instance, this April I decided I wanted to knit a cardigan for Jovanka for Winter. So I thought about it for a few days and over time I came up with the design I wanted. I sketched it down, got approval from the little madam herself (Jovanka that is, not Elizabeth), whisked her off to the local yarn shop and left her to choose her yarn (she chose a Woolganic pure wool 8ply) in a shade of orange which reminds me that I must, must, must get those pumpkin seeds planted this weekend.
Following the guidelines EZ gave, I cast on and got knitting, doing the back and fronts all in one on circular needles. The sleeves were also done on circulars so there are no seams. The sleeves were integrated when I reached the yoke and then it was just matter of decreasing to the neckline, knitting the moss stitch collar, casting off and then grafting a dozen stitches under each arm to join these stitches to the body. I loved doing the calculations for each step rather than relying blindly on a pattern and hoping that it would fit. I knew that this would fit because it was based on measurements I had taken so I felt like I had more control over the whole thing (and I do like to be in control). I also loved learning new techniques and skills along the way so that I feel I am a much better knitter than when I began this piece.
What Elizabeth Zimmermann has given the knitting world (in case you've not come across her books), is a series of calculations which allow you to knit up a jumper or a jacket or a cardigan without a written pattern, provided you know a few measurements of the intended wearer. It is surely the most practical advice I've been given in 35 years of knitting and has given me the freedom to design what I want to knit, without having to hunt around for a pattern that matches the picture I have in my head. With that freedom has come the courage to have a go and if things don't work out as I expect then it is a lesson learned. It's the kind of courage I see in my children as they go about their business of exploring the world around them and the kind of courage and imagination that seems to be discouraged as we grow up; the kind that tells Jovanka that she can choose five completely different buttons from the button box if she wants (and she did). Yes it's safer and easier to follow a pattern. You know for sure what you're going to end up with, more or less. But for this little knitter at least, it's not half as much fun!
And now, if you're seeking some inspiration, why not pop in and have a look at Our Creative Spaces, where crafters share their work with the world. You will see this little number, along with a whole lot of other crafting wonder. I just had a peek and there is some beauty to behold there.
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