Now that the recovery from carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand is progressing to "only wear a brace when moving furniture and the like", I'm beginning to commence to restart some of the hobbies I used to do before my hands started to bug me so much. No, not writing, at least not yet; if I do go back, it'll be after the left hand is done. No, I'm talking about knitting.
Alert hearth/myth readers know that I used to knit a lot. A month or so ago, on a whim, I joined a FB group for beginning knitters, and as such things do, I started to get the urge again. I've been casting sidelong glances at the shawl I started knitting three! years! ago! (the pattern is called The Minimalist and the yarn is Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering in the Coquette colorway) and have just about admitted to myself that I'll never finish it. I mean, I might finish it. I'm pretty far along. But whether it's the pattern or the yarn color or the fact that my shawl tote is already so full that the top is about to pop off, it's just not inspiring me.
So last weekend, I went over to my closest local yarn shop and began to search for inspiration. In my experience, there is nothing like a yarn shop for inspiration -- all those squishable yarns in beautiful colors, with sample garments and accessories knitted up to help you visualize what your project might look like when it's done.
In chatting with one of the owners, I explained my situation and mentioned that I was thinking of getting back into knitting not by finishing the shawl languishing at home, but by making a cardigan.
The skeptical look she gave me only strengthened my resolve.
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| The new project and Tigs' paws. Lynne Cantwell 2026 |
Almost immediately upon arriving home, I cast on for the sweater, using the pattern for a raglan sweater in Ann Budd's The Handy Book of Knitting Top-Down Sweaters. I have made several sweaters from patterns in this book before, including the raglan-sleeve one, and after knitting a few rows of this new sweater, I couldn't figure out why I hadn't had to start the raglan sleeve increases yet. Then I realized I had accidentally been using the pattern for a sweater with set-in sleeves. I could have kept going, but I don't want to make a cardigan with set-in sleeves. I want to make one with raglan sleeves. At least I didn't have much to frog.
The patterns in the book are very basic, so you can zhuzh it up with your own details. For example, there are no directions in here for patch pockets, but they're easy to add; ditto for changing up the style of edgings and trim. I want to make a cardigan because I have approximately a billion buttons in my stash; the easiest option would be to make the bands out of 1x1 or 2x2 ribbing, but I've decided to use a fun round cable detail on the pocket fabric and I'm thinking it would be cool to do a similar detail on the button band. So now progress has stopped on the sweater yoke while I go spelunking for patterns with cabled button bands.
Full disclosure: Progress on this blog post stopped for a bit just now while I did more spelunking. I did get some ideas from this latest round, at least. I think the next step will be to dig through the button stash. I know there are some bright yellow buttons in there, and for some reason they keep pinging at my brain. Once I've got that decision made, I'll go back to knitting, I swears it.
Who knows? Maybe this project will give me an idea for a new book.
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