• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Tutorials
    • Vintage Hairstyles
    • Knitting
    • Sewing
  • Patterns
  • Sewing
  • Home
  • Knitting
    • Patterns
    • Free Vintage Patterns
    • Knit-alongs
  • Wardrobe
  • Travels
  • Contact
Tasha Could Make That

Tasha Could Make That

Vintage knitting, sewing, and a lifetime of craftiness

Forlorn and forgotten

May 18, 2015 by Tasha 19 Comments

I have a habit with knitting sometimes, and it’s a habit that does not cross over in the slightest to sewing. I temporarily abandon projects. Maybe for a month, sometimes 6 months, sometimes 2 years or more.

Forlorn and forgotten: my Debbie Bliss fair isle cardigan

It happens for lots of reasons. Generally speaking, I’m a fast knitter. But sometimes my mind is racing faster than my needles, and off to a new fancy project before I finish what was the new fancy project 2 weeks ago. Or I fall out of love with something. Or I realize my gauge is way off and don’t feel like dealing with ripping back. Or I’ve made a mistake that I can’t bring myself to fix at that current moment in time. Or seasons change and I feel like knitting something else. Lots of potential reasons!

I don’t ever abandon a project because it needs just finishing details, like a button band or seaming or blocking…. when I get to that stage, I will always finish it. But earlier on, well, there’s really no guarantee! I don’t intend to forget about projects, but it happens. And because I have a decent track record of picking back up older projects (not all, but many get finished or eventually frogged for the yarn—my Brothers Grimm cardigan was finished 4 years later!), I don’t lose sleep over it.

No need to beat myself up over it… I mean, I’d probably feel bad if I had bins of forlorn projects that would never again see the light of day, but I do often get back to them eventually. It’s just my way!

Forlorn and forgotten: my Debbie Bliss fair isle cardigan

So here’s today’s example. We’re soon off on a lovely and much-needed relaxing vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and I wanted a fair isle project to take along. It’ll be cooler than home (probably in the mid to upper 50s), plus I’ll have lots of car hours to knit on the road trip there and back. I waffled on some different ideas, but finally decided I really want to knit Susan Crawford’s latest fair isle cardigan, the beautiful Bowland. (By the way, Susan will soon be doing a KAL in her Ravelry group, for those interested.)

I did a couple of swatches over the weekend for it, and my color combinations weren’t singing to me. So while rifling through my yarn stash yet again for it, I accidentally turned up a fair isle project I’d abandoned nearly 2 years ago. It actually slightly took my breath away—not only had I kind of forgotten about it and the colorwork was gorgeous, but I’d gotten far!

Forlorn and forgotten: my Debbie Bliss fair isle cardigan

I had the body knit up to about 1″ past the armhole bind off. It took me a minute to remember why I’d stuffed this away… and then it hit me. In a total moment of stupidity, I had setup the armhole steeks (the bridge of stitches to cut later, where the armholes will be) in the wrong places, so the center front was about 1″ closer to the left side than the right. BIG OOPS! It was a (re) slap in the face remembering that, ha ha! Thankfully I hadn’t gotten far after that, but it was enough to piss me off. So away the project went, sad and forlorn for 2 years.

But when I spied it in a yarn bin, I knew it was time to pull it out and finish it! I’ll have to rip or cut back to below the armhole steek, and then reassess everything. It’s from the Fall/Winter 2010 Debbie Bliss knitting magazine. I nearly never buy knitting magazines anymore, but when I saw this cardigan a few years ago and the pullover that’s on the front cover it was love at first sight. It’s sold out on the Vogue Knitting site, but lucky for you, this pattern is now available online! Good things come to those who wait.

You can see that except for the ribbing, I didn’t change any of the colors, although I used entirely different yarns. I just absolutely loved the intense palette as it was!

Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine Fall/Winter 2010

I left myself shady notes, but at least I have the needle sizes, I have my re-worked charts on my iPad, and I have the magazine it came from. And I wrote down all the yarn colors and brands I was using, in case I ran out (thank you, 2 years ago Tasha!). I know I converted it to the round instead of knitting it flat. I have no idea how I intended it would fit (loose or relaxed), nor what my plans were for the sleeves. I’ll have to decide on the sleeves soon… I can either knit them out from the armhole with no sleeve cap shaping in a traditional style (like Susan’s Bowland), or I’m tempted to try the method used in Clara Falk’s Grey Sparrow, where you knit the sleeves each to the armhole, then join with the body (much like you would for a raglan), but shaped in a way that looks like set-in sleeves. Not sure yet!

Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine Fall/Winter 2010

Because it means not having to make a decision on colors for Bowland while I’m rushing to pack and get ready for a trip, I’m going to try and finish up this cardigan with the unexciting name of Cropped Fair Isle Cardigan (on Ravelry here), in the meantime. I may have hit on some ideas for Bowland using bright hand-dyed yarns in my stash, so I’ll ruminate on that while finishing this one.

I’ll rip back to before the armhole steeks, check the body length and see if I want to make any changes, and then make a decision about sleeves. And I should be off and running again with holiday knitting settled!

With any luck, I’ll end up with a gorgeous fair isle cardigan in time to… not be able to wear it for several months! 😉

  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Knitting Tagged With: fair isle

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emileigh Rogers says

    May 18, 2015 at 1:49 pm

    This is GORGEOUS! What a frustrating problem to fix, but, wow, the colorwork is beautiful! Your knitting skills amaze me!

    Reply
  2. katrina says

    May 18, 2015 at 9:08 pm

    Oh so pretty! I am, as ever, in awe of your knitting skills. I hope you have fun finishing this on your lovely vacation 🙂

    Reply
  3. Jen says

    May 18, 2015 at 10:15 pm

    I was asked to make that cardigan for my local yarn shop – the deal was they would supply the yarn, I’d supply the labour and I’d get it back after 6 months on display. I was SO ready to cast on but then I was told they needed it in two weeks.

    Um… no. I have a full time job and a part time social life. It didn’t happen.

    I might still make it because is a lovely cardigan, but I’m not sure about the pockets that don’t pattern match. I’m undecided as to whether I think they are clever of just bad pattern matching.

    Reply
  4. Bella says

    May 19, 2015 at 3:22 am

    I am definitely guilty of doing this!! But a lot of the time, my frustration as a beginner resides me to just try another project! Think I need to learn to just come back to things like you said.

    Bella xox
    Check out my lifestyle blog

    Reply
  5. sarah says

    May 19, 2015 at 4:12 am

    wow love love love this. thank you for reminding me about one of my projects that needs to see the light again – needles at the ready!

    Reply
  6. Alecia says

    May 19, 2015 at 5:18 am

    What a gorgeous pattern! I love this so much! 🙂

    Reply
  7. Debra says

    May 19, 2015 at 9:21 am

    My oh my such lovely colours!! It’s going to be beautiful!!

    Reply
  8. Jessica Cangiano says

    May 19, 2015 at 10:31 am

    I hope you guys have a safe, fun, totally fantastic trip!

    ♥ Jessica

    Reply
  9. Mandi says

    May 19, 2015 at 11:20 am

    This happens to me ALL the time. Usually because I don’t spend enough time in the planning stage and get to a part that I have no idea what I want to do. Then it sits for months on end virtually forgotten. I’m glad everything worked out for you with this forgotten project though. And I hope you have a great time in Upper Michigan.

    Reply
  10. Evie says

    May 19, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    The colors or gorgeous! That’s totally the sort of stupid mistake I often end up kicking myself for (both with sewing and knitting). The “why wasn’t I paying better attention??” mistakes. Looking forward to seeing how you decide to finish it!

    Reply
  11. Claire Gittins says

    May 19, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    I knitted this very cardigan about 3 or 4 years ago and I love it! Mine is on Ravelry. I used mostly the same colours but changed the background from brown to navy. Brown just isn’t ‘me’. Do finish it because you will be very happy you did.

    Reply
  12. Diane says

    May 19, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    What a delightful surprise for you! It will be so nice to see your smiling face wearing it before too long.

    Reply
  13. Marie Roche says

    May 19, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    Your color selection is beautiful. You will enjoy this cardigan when you finished it. What yarn did you use? Enjoy your trip.

    Marie

    Reply
  14. bonita says

    May 20, 2015 at 2:06 am

    Oooh! Lovely! In awe of your knitting skills once again, I can’t wait to see the finished results on this one. 🙂 ❤

    xox,
    bonita of Lavender & Twill

    Reply
  15. Ginger says

    May 21, 2015 at 8:44 am

    Wow, this is beautiful! I’m so glad you picked it back up and can’t wait to see how it turns out!

    Reply
  16. Jacinta says

    May 30, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    The finished cardigan will be amazing your fair isle knitting is so neat

    Reply
  17. Desiree says

    May 31, 2015 at 10:02 pm

    I envy the patience of people who knit things like sweaters. I have an unfinished infinity scarf sitting around.

    Reply
  18. Mariann @ DreamyRaccoonSale says

    June 4, 2015 at 7:50 am

    Your knitting skills are out of this world. The pattern is super complex, is it not? As soon as I saw the pattern I felt dizzy as I was overwhelmed with the many colors and details 😀

    Mariann from DreamyRaccoonSale

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Wait, sewing jeans? | By Gum, By Golly says:
    June 3, 2015 at 10:11 am

    […] But in the meantime, I thought I’d share what’s on my sewing table! You already know my current knitting project, which saw a lot of progress while we were […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Tasha

Welcome! If you’re into vintage style, knitting, sewing, and general craftiness, well then grab your favorite drink because you’re in the right place! I’m Tasha. Read more...

  • P

Tasha Could Be In Your Inbox

Yes, add me, please!

My Knitting Patterns

Wondrella cardigan - new knitting pattern!

Wondrella cardigan – new knitting pattern!

Fortesse beret - new knitting pattern

Fortesse beret – new knitting pattern

Fortesse pullover - new knitting pattern

Fortesse pullover – new knitting pattern

Confidette bolero - new knitting pattern!

Confidette bolero – new knitting pattern!

Legendaire pullover hands behind head

Legendaire pullover – new knitting pattern release

Fayne beret: new knitting pattern release

Fayne beret: new knitting pattern release

Knitting pattern release: Sprigs and Berries

Knitting pattern release: Sprigs and Berries

Nisse: knitting pattern release

Nisse: knitting pattern release

Debut knitting pattern release: Victory

Debut knitting pattern release: Victory

Categories

Some Favorites

Getting a cardigan right

Getting a cardigan right

Our great 1950s kitchen renovation reveal

Our great 1950s kitchen renovation reveal

50s topper coat for spring

50s topper coat for spring

Nancy Drew and the Clue in the Epic Sweater

Nancy Drew and the Clue in the Epic Sweater

A plaid bolero, a dress, and a belt buckle walk into a bar

A plaid bolero, a dress, and a belt buckle walk into a bar

Spring green batwing sleeve bolero

Spring green batwing sleeve bolero

Topics

1940s sewing birthdays blouses briar rose knitalong butterick butterick B5895 buttons cardigans christmas clogs craftsy dresses fair isle knitting fall for cotton finished projects fitting a 1940s pullover project giveaways haircuts Hollywood 1678 jacket hollywood patterns knit for victory knitting patterns knitwear design mccall's outfits pants resizing knitting patterns reviews sew for victory sewing with knits simplicity skirts stranded knitting susan crawford tailoring vintage vintage clothing vintage hair vintage knitting vintage knitting college vintage knitting patterns vintage pledge vintage sewing vintage sewing patterns wisconsin

Posts

Footer

Tasha Could Be in Your Inbox

Yes, add me, please!

  • P
  • © Copyright 2023 Tasha Could Make That. All Rights Reserved.
  • • Privacy Policy
  • Created with ✨ by Moxie Design Studios
Scroll Up