Knitting diary: March

Baby Colm is finally sleeping a bit better, so I’m hopeful that the recent lag I’ve been experiencing in knitting energy will subside. I have still managed to get some knitting done, just a lot less than usual. A lot of friends are giving birth soon, so industry beckons.

Anyway, two projects:

2.1 A Hat for Greg

I kept the company of a lovely group of lads in my teens. We drank cans, played cards and sat on walls smoking. Among them was Greg, with whom I share a birthday. I can’t remember how old I was, but one year (I’m guessing I was around 18), I made him a scarf for his birthday. It’s one of the first knitted gifts I remember giving. Even shortly after I made it, I knew it was not a great piece of knitting. I used at least two different weights of wool, and it looks genuinely very wonky. I find it fascinating thinking about how expertise transforms ordinary perceptual experience. I don’t believe I would have given this scarf as a gift unless I thought it looked pretty decent. And now, looking at it, it’s so glaringly… well … wonky, that it seems incredible that I obviously didn’t see that once upon a time. I’m aware of this with much subtler things like the even-ness of my tension in early work, or seaming and that kind of thing, but it’s almost exciting to think that I could have regarded something that is so clearly not really a rectangle (the one true goal of a basic scarf) as fairly rectangular.

Anyway, Greg is probably the most grateful recipient of a gift I have ever given. They talk about the concept of “knit-worthiness”, and well, this badly knitted scarf has been proudly taken to the Euros no less, and I have received a picture of it laid out in front of a TV that is streaming a match. It’s lived a great life. As I say, it was a very early piece of knitted gifting, and Greg’s enthusiastic appreciation of it really spurred me on in my knitting and made me excited to make things for people.

Behold, this terrible scarf in Feb 2025:

I thought it would be nice to upgrade Greg’s knitted wardrobe and give him something that looked a bit more intentional this year. I had hoped to get this to him in February, but it’s still here now awaiting its handover.

Thanks to Greg, and those who spur us on by appreciating things made by hand.

2.2 Another Jumper for Colm

This brings me to the second project that got sidetracked to make Niamh’s scarf from the last post. I had been itching to do some colourwork over Christmas, so went looking for a book and pattern. I have only made one or two patterns from the Pom Pom Knits’ Minipom book. All the patterns are really nice, but some are a bit more involved, and I’m so often in a rush with my projects these days that I keep retreating to familiar pastures! I didn’t have any new wool, so I just used a bunch of various kinds of worsted wool I had lying around. I chose this pattern (this is one of the pictures from the book):

I didn’t do much to the pattern, and it all came together fairly smoothly. I did contrasting cuffs and waistbands to give it a little additional interest (I also ran out of the main wool). I often shorten the sleeves on jumpers for babies this age, because they always wear lots of layers anyway, and the cuffs can get very gross when they’re right up on the hands, but for whatever reason, I kept these longer and I like the way it looks. As I mentioned in the last post, he is still 18 months and wears whatever is put on him without complaint. Long may it last!!!

***