A January Aran
Once upon a time, there was a knitter, and this knitter had a conversation with her boss at work. The conversation went something like this:
Knitter: I've been wanting to knit more Elizabeth Zimmermann patterns for ages.
Enabler: Okay.
Knitter: Have you read the Almanac? It's really well written, and there are lots of patterns - like the February Baby Sweater.
Enabler: Oh, so that's where that comes from? Didn't someone do a Lady-version of that?
Knitter: Yes they did, and there's a February Lady Jumper out there as well. That's the thing - EZ patterns are so versatile, and she really encourages her readers to experiment, and make things that fit them, and that use their favourite things.
Enabler: So why's it an Almanac, then?
Knitter: Well, the patterns are all written around the idea that they might be what you want to knit at that time of year - jumpers in the winter and spring, small, lighter things in the summer... that sort of thing. You could kind of knit your way through the whole book in a year.
Enabler: We could...
Knitter: Oooh. That's an idea - we could do that, you know. But not next year - I have lots on next year.
Enabler: But now we've thought of the idea...
And so
, the knitter went away and thought, and daydreamed about jumpers, and designing, and making herself do things that seemed terrifying and difficult (like steeks, and knitting a colourwork jumper in a month), and mentioned it at the Knit'n'Natter group, and then a Ravelry group was set up... and then it was New Year's Eve.
And on New Year's Day, as the chimes of Big Ben faded away, the knitter pulled out her needles, and nice sheepy yarn (vital, for the jumper was to be a cardigan, and would be steeked), and cast on. And she knit, and she knit, and she cursed the dark and the choice of navy yarn, and she knit, and she carried on knitting for most of the month, even when her intended pointed out a 'really clever bit that goes this way, and then the other way' (mis-crossed cable) about 40 rows back, and she had to rip out the four stitches of the cable column and knit them back up, until she had a perfectly functional jumper.
And then she learned to crochet a slip-stitch chain, and knit a swatch so she could practice, and cut up her swatch, and crocheted a slip-stitch chain in the front of her jumper, and waited for her intended to come home. And he cut up the front of her jumper, so she didn't have to, and so she could pick up stitches for button bands, and finish her cardigan on the 30th of January. Whereupon she went out, so that she could wear it, and came back, and said: "What am I going to knit between now and Tuesday??"
Knitter: I've been wanting to knit more Elizabeth Zimmermann patterns for ages.
Enabler: Okay.
Knitter: Have you read the Almanac? It's really well written, and there are lots of patterns - like the February Baby Sweater.
Enabler: Oh, so that's where that comes from? Didn't someone do a Lady-version of that?
Knitter: Yes they did, and there's a February Lady Jumper out there as well. That's the thing - EZ patterns are so versatile, and she really encourages her readers to experiment, and make things that fit them, and that use their favourite things.
Enabler: So why's it an Almanac, then?
Knitter: Well, the patterns are all written around the idea that they might be what you want to knit at that time of year - jumpers in the winter and spring, small, lighter things in the summer... that sort of thing. You could kind of knit your way through the whole book in a year.
Enabler: We could...
Knitter: Oooh. That's an idea - we could do that, you know. But not next year - I have lots on next year.
Enabler: But now we've thought of the idea...
And so
, the knitter went away and thought, and daydreamed about jumpers, and designing, and making herself do things that seemed terrifying and difficult (like steeks, and knitting a colourwork jumper in a month), and mentioned it at the Knit'n'Natter group, and then a Ravelry group was set up... and then it was New Year's Eve.And on New Year's Day, as the chimes of Big Ben faded away, the knitter pulled out her needles, and nice sheepy yarn (vital, for the jumper was to be a cardigan, and would be steeked), and cast on. And she knit, and she knit, and she cursed the dark and the choice of navy yarn, and she knit, and she carried on knitting for most of the month, even when her intended pointed out a 'really clever bit that goes this way, and then the other way' (mis-crossed cable) about 40 rows back, and she had to rip out the four stitches of the cable column and knit them back up, until she had a perfectly functional jumper.
And then she learned to crochet a slip-stitch chain, and knit a swatch so she could practice, and cut up her swatch, and crocheted a slip-stitch chain in the front of her jumper, and waited for her intended to come home. And he cut up the front of her jumper, so she didn't have to, and so she could pick up stitches for button bands, and finish her cardigan on the 30th of January. Whereupon she went out, so that she could wear it, and came back, and said: "What am I going to knit between now and Tuesday??"
Comments