I coveted this Union Jack cardigan the moment I saw it in “Designer Knitting”magazine (Vogue Knitting in the US) . It featured in a section titled “London Calling”. I loved the quirky, eclectic styling of the whole collection, but the standout piece for me was undoubtedly the cardigan. It had a subtle colourway achieved with tweed wool, and I desperately wanted to make it. Now this constituted a major challenge as my knitting skills are still a work in progress. I learnt to knit as a child, but have only recently returned to the craft. Could I manage such a large, multicoloured project? I decided to give it a go.
Rather than start with the back, I knitted the two fronts and sleeves first, slowly getting to grips with managing multiple colours. But the back was still filling me with dread, requiring 13 colours on the go at once, along a row of 168 stitches. I would have to keep this up for 170 rows. So I calculated if I could complete about 4 rows a day, I could finish it in around 6 weeks. Not exactly quick but with an end in sight, not an eternity. So give or take a day or so, that’s exactly what happened.
The whole project was a real labour of love, taking me about four months from start to finish. But I’m extremely proud of myself for persevering and seeing it through to the end. In fact I felt I learnt a few valuable lessons that I will be carrying through to future projects:
- - Do not be put off from making something that appears difficult and beyond your skill level. If you desperately want the finished piece, patience and passion will carry you through.
- - It’s less daunting if you break a complicated project down into smaller sections, and set yourself targets to complete each part.
- - Complete the simplest section of the garment first. The “easy win” will give you the momentum to complete the more challenging parts.
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