Ten years ago, before knitting classes at WEBS, before I knew more than one way to do cast-ons and bind-offs, before I knew how to apply a button band or realized how badly I had misunderstood how to mattress stitch a seam, I decided to make myself a cabled cardigan with a wide, warm collar, franken-patterned from a hoodie with 2 1/2 pounds of Bartlett Fisherman 3-ply yarn. I made a lot of design choices that avoided things I wasn’t sure how to do. Over the years I have ripped, re-knit and grafted parts to improve the fit, but it’s still a bit of a mess, and still my favorite, most-worn, go-to sweater on a cold winter morning.
When I thought about what I wanted to do for my WEKP project, there was a light bulb moment when I realized that the sweater I most wanted to make and wear was was this one, only better — keep the aran-inspired design, versatile shape and color, but lighter, less bulky, a little less rustic, with design choices based on my preferences rather than limited knitting skills.
