Ford by Kim Hargreaves

More than a decade in the making, I finally completed my oldest UFO. The Ford cardigan by Kim Hargreaves has been lurking in my craft area for at least 10 years. I’ve had it on needles so long that I can’t remember exactly when I started it. Why did it take me so long to finish? It’s not a particularly difficult project, but I think I made the mistake of believing I could do it on autopilot.

Ford is one of the patterns in the 2010 collection Cherished from Rowan Yarns. It’s designed by Kim Hargreaves in the style of a trench coat with all the traditional details – double-breasted, epaulettes and wristbands. The main features of the design are two large columns of cabling on either side of the body and the background fabric consists of moss stitch.

So why finish it now? Last year, 2023, was a really strange year for me for making things. I was travelling for almost half the year and also had a major lack of motivation for sewing when I was at home. At the start of this year, I decided to pick up some knitting just to while away some time during those miserable damp January days that never seem to get light. I managed to power through finishing a knitting project that I’d had in my work-in-progress bag since just last summer.

Once I finished my Veste Court, I was still in the mood for knitting so I picked up this Ford cardigan. In the past, each time I picked up this piece, I wasn’t happy with how it looked, so I ended up frogging it. When I returned to this jacket I found I’d got three-quarters of the back knitted, two half fronts were done and I’d stopped at the point where you have to insert a pocket – this is another issue of mine, I tend to stall when I reach a difficult (to me) technique. I had at some point knitted the small pieces, the collar, sleeves and pocket linings, so there was just the main body to complete.

I measured the piece. I wasn’t totally happy that they were the right length and also I realised that there was some shaping which I had motored through without noticing, so I frogged the back almost entirely and took the fronts to the point at which the pocket inserts began. From there I needed to carefully follow my pattern referring to every line in the instructions and using stitch markers to make sure that I didn’t go too far without adding a detail.

I think one of the main problems was the moss stitch. Whenever I got into a good rhythm of knitting this garment I would realise that I’d gone out of sync with the moss stitch and my columns weren’t straight. In addition, the cables need to be uniform otherwise it doesn’t look right. This meant that you actually have to pay attention when you’re knitting this item. In my imagination, I remembered knitting in front of the TV; knitting while listening to music; knitting while always doing something else at the same time. I don’t know if it’s because I’d had a long gap in making knit garments but I simply could not do that anymore. I found that I have to keep track of every row measuring frequently and just making sure that I haven’t slipped up. I think when you’re doing stocking stitch it’s easy to just go into autopilot but when you’ve got a pattern you really do have to stay focused.

I’m definitely more of an instant gratification maker and knitting requires a big investment of time, especially on such a large project. I’d frequently put it down for a break and unfortunately, not come back to it for literally years. So I haven’t been knitting it continuously for a decade but rather picking it up for a bit and putting it down for very long periods of time.

When I got going and settled into the process, I was surprised at how quickly my fabric was growing. I asked myself how I’d made such a meal of this. I was able to finish the back in two days and then turn my attention to the front pieces. This was more complicated as I had to navigate the pocket insertion and remember the shaping as well as make sure that the pattern remained intact.

One thing I did notice about this pattern as I worked through it more meticulously than I had before is that there are a few things that could be explained better. The pattern that says it’s intended for a knitter with a little experience. Now I’m not a beginner, but I wouldn’t say I was an expert either. I’ve done most knitting techniques once or twice so I would say I’m probably somewhere floating in that vague “intermediate” level. However, I’ve never inserted a pocket before and I thought the instructions were a bit lacking. It tells you to separate the body, knit the pocket and rejoin, but it doesn’t actually say how to finish the pocket. you can work it out, but I do think this detail should be in the instructions. I also realise that I probably would have benefited from having the pattern displayed as a chart as well as in written form as it’s quite difficult to stay on track. A knitting chart helps to visualize the process a lot better, I think. I hate to get into the whole Indie patterns versus traditional patterns battle but I think the few indie patterns that I’ve used have been better in that they detail all the steps involved in making the article. There was also an error in the pattern where the row numbering went askew. The front piece instructions weren’t quite right or maybe they just weren’t clear.

There was still a lot of frogging involved because I kept losing my place in the moss stitch. Sometimes I’d try to talk myself into leaving it saying it wouldn’t show but then I would notice it every time I turned the knitting over so I had to undo it and start again. In fact, I’ve probably knitted this cardigan about four times in total if you count all the various knitting and frogging and knitting again.

How do I feel about it? Finishing my Veste Court cardigan definitely gave me the impetus to carry on working through this project. It had definitely taken up a place of Fear in my mind as each time I looked at it I found myself thinking “Oh, I’ll just start and not finish it again, why don’t I just frog it and let it go?”. I had invested in the recommended yarn, Rowan Felted Tweed, and this is one reason why I kept returning to this project. I’ve learned that once I’ve got it in my head that I want something, it’s hard for me to let it go. I also don’t like knitting buttonholes. I think it’s probably a size too big and the sleeves were too long so I’ve turned them up and left off the sleeve tabs. I am NOT knitting any more on this project!

Now that I have finished I have such a sense of satisfaction and I do think it might help me shake off this fog that I’ve been in over the last year or so. We shall see.

Once again I ask you: how many UFOs have you got in your craft space? Will you ever finish them or will they linger there to the end of time?

Thanks for dropping by,