There's not a single one I started and then abandoned because I didn’t like what I was knitting. So I've set myself the challenge of finishing several of my in-progress projects over the summer. I've just finished sewing up and pressing the basketweave jumper I’ve made for one of my little nephews. His twin will be getting a matching cardigan in the same pattern and yarn, but not before I finally finish a project with their names on from last year.
Cuddly elephant toys with matching Indian headdresses and backcloths seemed ideal when they were babies. Unfortunately, I had no idea quite how long each would take and how complex the apparently simple moss stitch design would prove. I’m a lot better at knitting now than I was a year ago and much quicker to spot and correct mistakes. The tens of hours I spent trying to get the decreases, cast-ons and overall pattern correct and the frustration at not understanding why the pattern wasn't coming out as I anticipated meant the elephants soon became a trial. That I spectacularly missed the deadline of when the gifts were expected didn’t help. And I still haven't worked out how to make their ears less ragged.
A couple of false starts on elephant two, a few months of ignoring the project completely and reasoning that the twins were now beyond needing soft toys and I almost let myself off the hook. But of course, I couldn’t.
A few weeks ago, we met up with Dhilan and Devan when we went en famille to the Olympic Torch event in Manchester. The boys were a delight, dancing along to the music and bashing their inflatable beaters together above the heads of their parents. I sensibly kept quiet about the jumpers I was busily knitting for them, but also instantly realised they’d still enjoy the elephants I’d long ago promised to make them. I’m still cursing the pattern and my gung-ho attitude to projects that are really beyond me, but I’ve since made lots of headway with knitting those elephants. And I’ve started enjoying the fact I’m getting somewhere with it.
By the time we next meet up with Dhilan, Devan, I'll have two lovely handmade elephant toys and two cute jumpers to present to them. Oh, and late last night I made a simple-as-can-be stocking stitch 'dude doll' from the latest Let's Knit magazine because I knew it would take barely any time at all.
Sure enough, I stuffed it and sewed it up this morning before work. It was fun and I love the fact it'll be ready to show off to my knitting friends at this week's Brockley Knits meet-up. But the satisfaction will be nothing compared to finishing those elephants and presenting them to the boys.
Ah well. As I found myself trilling in agreement with Morrissey this morning, "I started something, typical me, typical me, typical me".
