So far so good (The Purple Project Pt 1).

Not quite a week into the new year, and most of the resolutions are holding up nicely. This post being just one of them. Early days of course, but I am always reliably optimistic in the first few days of January. This is mostly to do with the fact that I loathe the festive season - I am a 'Christmas refuser' - and the sense of relief I experience is invariably accompanied by a surge of energy and enthusiasm for life.

So. 2013 has started with considerable advances on the knitting front.

Now, these rather haphazardly arranged pieces may not look like much, but their existence marks a significant step forward in my knitting career. You might be able to tell, it's a garment. Or, rather, it will be. My optimism apparently knows no bounds at the moment, given that my most recent attempt to make a wearable item bigger than a scarf ended in a lot of very irritated frogging. That was several months ago, and without going into details, I have finally accepted that it was my own fault for not taking the time to either a) seek out a pattern suitable for the yarn and my skill level, and b) failing to plan the pattern myself and knit a gauge sample, instead of trying to work from a few rough sketches made on the back of an envelope.

But, this half completed collection of very purple stocking stitch is looking pretty good - so far at least. While my garment knitting history indicates a high probability that this will never be fit for wearing in public; I already know that I'm going to finish it, and wear it, and love it until it falls apart at the seams. I'm 100% emotionally committed to this project. Here - at considerable length, consider yourself forewarned - is why...

The yarn is not particularly special in itself - Sirdar Country Style DK - at only 15% wool (although I note on the Sirdar website that the Country Style DK currently listed is now 30% wool). But the colour is deliciously utterly unashamedly richly purple. The kind of purple that incipient feisty old ladies threaten to wear, and that my dear recently departed mum loved so much. This yarn is part of her stash, which explains the difference in wool content - she will have bought this years ago. And, being the only one of my siblings who took to knitting, I've inherited the lot. All of it, all the needles, a veritable haberdashery of other knitterly paraphernalia, every last precious scrap and pattern and handwritten knitting notebook, and even a couple of UFOs. It's the most treasured part of my inheritance.

Coming across a whole garment's worth of yarn was a surprise. This was packed away with a pattern for a cardigan that I vaguely remember her showing me and asking if I liked it. She had made herself a cardi in the exact same wool, and I'm sure I admired the colour. So, it was a done deal: she planned to make me a cardi, and we would have made a very fine and very purple pair. Now, I don't have any great sense of a life after death. It's not that I'm not 'spiritual', but I am decidedly secular. Even so, this feels like a challenge from beyond the grave. So, to honour the memory of my mum, and to at least attempt to follow faithfully in her skilled knitterly footsteps, a cardi must be made.

But, this project is not going along without some trepidation. I confess I'm not just following the pattern. I struggle with this, even though I know it accounts for a history of failure in producing knitwear of any note. And while this particular pattern may have suited me at the time mum bought it, and I don't dislike it, it's not really my thing now. So, I'm playing a bit fast and loose and using the pattern as a starting point. I haven't thrown caution to the wind entirely though. I've sensibly opted for mainly stocking stitch to make it easier to understand and follow the shaping instructions. It wouldn't be my first choice, but it has proved a soothing distraction from the hectic frenzy of christmas (no matter how hard I try I can never keep it entirely at bay), and I am proceeding with considerable care: taking time to check the fit - on me and between the pieces, and am leaving the as yet undecided decorative details at cuff, hem, neckline and button-band/placket to the very last.

I also had what I thought was a bright idea - the truth of which is yet to proven - and somewhat over excitedly think I may have happened upon a good way (for me) to approach making sweaters and cardis etc full stop - right now it feels like a game changer. Instead of starting at the cuffs and bottom edge, I did a sneaky provisional crochet cast on, and have tackled all the tricksy top-of-arm, shoulder and neckline shapings first. This means I already know that the bits all fit together nicely, with almost no easing to speak of, without having knit endless swathes of stocking stitch only to discover that I've misread the pattern. And, more importantly it means I can knit down to make this cardi nice and long, as long as I like.

Long enough to cosset my festively beleaguered kidneys, which are being treated to a minimum of a month of sobriety. A substantial project is just the ticket, to keep the (oddly shame tinged) craving for a large glass of reasonably priced pinot noir at bay. I've NEVER been able to knit and drink at the same time, so the plus is that productivity, as evidenced above, is up.

On which note, I'm going to sit down and do some Sunday knitting, and try to forget that tomorrow heralds a return to the day job. Watch this space for Purple Project Pt 2.