I have been knitting again

I am the equivalent of a fair-weather friend to knitting: I am only spontaneously inclined to pick up my needles once there’s a nip in the air or a glowering look in the sky, and I hardly, if ever, knit during the warmer months in the usual run of things.  This is not to say that I only knit out of necessity, but that’s what it amounts to.  However, I am keen to make a few more friends while I’m in London this summer and thought a good way to do so would be to join a group or two*.  Thus I only took up my knitting needles in order to go to a knitting group, not thinking I’d get too much from knitting in thirty-degree heat, but I was surprised and pleased to find that it was just about the best thing I could have done.   As I’ve mentioned here already, I had a dry patch with work for a couple of weeks (mercifully finished now, though that’s not to say it mightn’t kick in again soon) and so the occupation of knitting was extremely pleasant.  Once I’d made the initial outlay for my yarn, it was completely free (and, further, kept me out of trouble – while placidly sitting knitting in the garden during the heatwave last week, I was not in town spending money).  That first purchase gave me an excuse to moon away some time in the precincts of the lovely Loop, which is sure to cheer anyone of a crafty disposition.  The project I’d chosen was involving without being wearing.  I practically always knit to the accompaniment of something else – at home, I would normally stick on a DVD and watch a couple of hours of a series while knitting away; over here, I took out a Poirot audiobook from the library and merrily knit away to a genteel murder in the warm sunshine.  There are worse ways to while away the time.  And I always get a kick out of the way knitting just grows, almost of its own accord.

I chose my project – a cushion cover – mainly out of necessity and a lack of imagination, as I wanted something reasonably simple, fairly portable and not requiring too much outlay in yarn.  Further, this project would create some much-needed decoration Chez Basil in glamorous Souf London.

Front view

Back view

I know it’s plain, but the yarn I used (Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK in shade 0124) is beautifully soft and it’s very comfy, which is the name of the game.

Lovely buttons, 75p each, from Liberty

It has occurred to me more than once whilst making this project that, quite embarrassingly, this is just about the most ambitious knitting project I’ve done.  I call this embarrassing because I’ve been knitting for so long now, and I’m always to be found knitting, at the very least, in the darkest point of winter – I had pretty much assumed on the basis that I’ve been knitting for three quarters of my life that I was hot stuff at this game, but this is, on reflection, complete humbug.  Despite being a quick knitter, and well able to produce a nice, even-looking piece of material, I’ve never really attempted socks (which really made me feel like the new girl at I Knit – sock fever had hit Waterloo in a big way); I’ve certainly never gone near anything approaching a jumper, either in size or complexity (much to the BF’s chagrin – almost as soon as he learnt that I am a knitter he started annoying me to make him a jumper); I can’t remember having had to tackle buttonholes before now; and I’ve never even properly blocked anything.  I’ve almost entirely stuck to scarves and hats.

However, this did not so much knock my confidence as really get me thinking about other possibilities – what have I been missing out on, and what should I put on my to-do list?  I must say, I don’t really understand the widespread adoration of socks.

The knitting group even got me contemplating seriously, for the first time, that I may just make the BF a jumper.  Though I’d probably need to start it imminently to have a chance of it being done.  For now, though, I’m content to bend my will toward churning out another cushion cover or three – as one wise soul at I Knit put it, one on its own on the sofa would look very lonely altogether.

* I am also on the lookout for a good book group, if anyone knows of such a thing.  I would especially like a group that is not enormous and meets either in central or south-east London.

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The Hard Facts

I made the stitch pattern up as I went along, but it’s not hard – your total number of stitches will come to 6x + 9, where x = number of repetitions of the motif across the width in the line with the largest number of reps.  In order to fit the 45cm width of my cushion pad, the number of reps worked out as being 11 when worked on 5mm needles – in all, 75 stitches, for which I give the directions below.  Knit up a swatch yourself to check your gauge and adjust accordingly.

Make up an inch or two of plain stockinette stitch (this is where you’ll place your buttons when you’re finishing up).  Then follow the motif pattern:

Row 1: k4, (p1, k5) 11 times, k4.  Row 2: p3, (k1, p1, k1, p3) 11 times, p3.  Row 3: knit.  Row 4: purl.  Row 5: k7, (p1, k5) 10 times, k7.  Row 6: p6, (k1, p1, k1) 10 times, p6.  Row 7: knit.  Row 8: purl.  Repeat to required length.

Then put in your buttonholes – their placement will depend on your guage and simply where you’d like to put them.  Stockinette stitch for another inch or so (give it more than you’d expect – I bound off a bit too quickly, in retrospect).  Weave in the ends and seam it all up and you’re done!