Eunice Cardigan

I can't remember where I spotted this design, I think it was probably on Instagram and as often seems to be the case with me, it proved to be a 'must cast on now' sort of project. It's been quite a long-term project, I find colourwork cardigans often are (I lose steam with them). The pattern is by Mary Henderson and is called Eunice Cardigan (The Knitter, Issue 136 - available digitally).

It is such a warm and cosy cardigan, I'm absolutely delighted with the finished garment! You can see the deep corrugated rib edging, this took ages but I started using a technique mentioned by Constance on her podcast (Stitching Over the Days), said technique simply involves working on a particular project for 30 minutes a day. I think Constance said she learnt of this idea from another podcast and found it really helpful - as have I! A row of the corrugated rib took me half an hour, so it was quite slow-going but I found that as I chipped away at it that the cast-off began to loom! Hooray!

I think I mentioned before that this cardigan was inspired by my return to education as a mature student and by my time at the wonderful Leek College. I had intended to get this cardigan done to wear during my first term at university this October, however my unplanned pregnancy put paid to that. I'm loath to describe it as being a disappointment as I am aware just how lucky I am, I think it was more the practicalities, plan changes and worries that I'm going to be spread a bit thin this time next year.

I have been thinking about my plan to knit loads of dresses over the next year and shaking my head at my queue as I have been planning lots of cardigans instead! I recently stumbled upon the fabulous designs of Helene Arnesen, aka Fabel Knitwear... Uh oh, I want to knit ALL of her patterns, they are so chic and feminine. Helene has a podcast too, if you search Fabel Knitwear on YouTube. I don't watch many podcasts but I like hers very much.