My mother tells a story of my first foray into knitting. I was young, perhaps four. She describes me sitting on the porch with 2 knitting needles and some leftover wool, diligently working at tieing knots in wool in an organized fashion with 2 sticks.

I can imagine myself in that moment. I am certain I was not good at it – nor particularly coordinated. The results were likely scrappy with dropped and added stitches in that accidental fashion that comes with learning to knit. I am certain that I was diligent in my efforts. That was the beginning for me.

Since then, I have taken up knitting many times in my life. As a Girl Guide, I managed to knit well enough to earn the knitting badge. In my twenties, I attempted to make sweaters. It was the 80’s. My taste was questionable, and my ability to choose suitable yarn for a project was nascent. This resulted in a few bags of half finished projects that I have since begun to diligently unravel, rescuing the yarn for some to-be-determined future project.

Not knowing what I did not know, one of my greatest successes was a colour block sweater made for my nephew when he was about two. I so appreciate that his mother saved it and it has now been passed on through to Tyler’s two children.

When my children were small, I took up knitting again. There was a lovely shop in Yaletown called Knitwear Architects. I loved their patterns and their fibres. Many, many sweaters originated from their patterns. Mostly they were for the kids, though I made a few for myself and a couple for friends. Knitting kept my hands busy in the hours when I was alone and the house was quiet.

As the children grew, and I transitioned into the video game industry, our household became busier. I put the needles away. I would pull them out from time to time to knit a blanket for a friend’s baby, but not much else.

When I went to Edmonton I was inspired to begin knitting again. I had so many long chilly evenings to fill and knitting occupied my hands as much as my mind; knitting is a form of meditation when all is going well. Mostly there were hats and scarves and cowls – no doubt influenced by those cold winters. I advanced to more complex work like shawls, and my skills continued to improve, along with my patience.

Having conquered flat objects (blankets and shawls) and circular knitting (many many warm caps) and more recently the complexity of socks, it was time for something more challenging. In July I decided to make a sweater.

I had a number of false starts selecting a pattern and the yarn. I started an online course, but quickly realized I was not up for the complexity of a cardigan that required many pieces and full assembly. Truth be told, I have never really mastered the mattress stitch required to seam all the components. I knew once the enjoyable knitting was complete there was a high probability the pieces would sit in a bag for a year or more before I rallied myself to stitch it all together (if ever).

In the end, I decided to knit a top down sweater on circular needles. It was a completely seamless pattern, allowing me to avoid the part of knitting I disliked the most.

I bought the wool online. It arrived in skeins, more blue than anticipated, and had to be wound into balls to be useful. Sincere thanks are extended to my husband who after years of holding up skeins while I wound the balls by hand, gave me an amazing gift, a beautiful wooden swift for winding.

I actually did a swatch, which is always recommended to ensure the finished garment is right size. This does not matter much with a shawl, a blanket or a hat, but it is everything with a sweater.

having successfully swatched, armed with the pattern, far too many balls of wool, appropriately sized needles, and the support of my knitting buddy Rita, it was time to cast on.

That part went well enough, though it took a few attempts to get the wool distribution right for the long tail cast on. The neckline was torture, combining increases with an eyelet. It took me six tries to get the neck right. After each failed effort, I would pull out my work and go back to the very beginning. To the positive, I believe I can honestly say that I have mastered the long tail cast on ;0)

The body advanced relatively quickly and I was pleased with my progress. Until it was time to take the armholes off the needles to be held for the future sleeves. This step was necessary before I could continue with the body.

So much anxiety. Setting up the armholes for later was not difficult. It was the future, very unclear process for adding back the sleeves that had me worried. I had of course read ahead in the pattern. However, I have learned that it is only in the doing that the process becomes clear to me. I knew I had to be patient and wait until it was time before I would truly understand.

Completing the body was straightforward. As recommended, I tried on the finished body, sans sleeves. So far so good.

Having arrived at the moment, my sweater sat for many weeks. I would pull it out from time to time, read through the instructions, watch a YouTube video or two and then return it to it’s resting place in the basket next to the couch where it sat as a constant reminder of it’s unfinished state – so close!

Finally, on a Sunday morning with the day open ahead, I could not put it off any longer – time for the sleeves. Adding the first sleeve was a breeze. Seriously. Who knew? The second, equally easy. Within a week the sweater was finished. I sewed in the few ends, and voila!

(Aside, I had made the decision to join the wool as I went, using the aptly named ‘spit join’ which Rita coached me through. I was extremely grateful for this technique as it reduced the amount of finishing significantly and also resulted in a tidily knit fabric).

Then I tried it on. Diasaster! My perfect sweater was too long by many inches. How did that happen? It fit quite nicely when I tried it on without sleeves. Well, it turns out that losing weight (which I have been diligently working on) made me thinner, which in turn made the sweater hang longer…. Decision time.

So, rather then balling it up in a bag, I carefully unpicked the castoff and the flawless eyelet, and ripped out 5 inches of length. I cannot tell you how much it hurt me to do that. Once I committed – it wasn’t too bad. One week later I was done and a week after that the sweater was blocked and dried.

Six months later, with at least a dozen new knitting skills under my belt and a wealth of patience, here it is :0)

Now for my next act…. Rita has inspired me, perhaps there is a cardigan in my future?