Poor Yvonne. Over two years ago I promised her a cardigan for her birthday. It was a special birthday, Yvonne is a lovely lady, and she deserved it. We went out, picked out some yarn, Yvonne picked out patterns I rejected (a cardi made entirely of bobbles? I SO can’t knit that :S), I picked out patterns Yvonne rejected (too plain, too unlike my old cardi, too like my old cardi). Then we found one we both liked. It was the ONE. I cast on.

Then I got ill, and couldn’t knit for a while. It took me 6 months to pluck up the courage to take up the needles on it again. Then I realised how terrible the format of the pattern was. The pattern is 4 different cables, 3 extra stitch patterns, none of them in the order they are used in the pattern, and only two of the cables followed the same number of rows, or even had a number of rows that was divisible by any of the other segments of the pattern. I had to re-write the pattern, and use a 5 bar gate system for each cable to log where I was with them. Needless to say it took a long time. Sadly it also involved much stopping and starting. But finally:

I hope you’ll forgive my absence. I think it is pretty clear what one of the reasons is…