I was delighted to have a couple of thoughtful comments on my last update on this project. When is a pattern not a pattern? When you make adjustments, are you creating a variation? Or are you perhaps creating a sibling, or a first cousin, some kind of relative of the original?

I also got to drop a Pirates of the Caribbean quote into one of my replies which is always a good time. And kind of appropriate given the mild nautical theme I’ve embarked on with the Ship of Theseus reference.

As you can see from the pics above, I’ve reached the end of the colourful yarn cake and am into plain old stockinette for about six inches before joining the sleeves. This feels like danger time. The siren song of a fancier project is calling. On one hand, the whole point of knitting for me is enjoyment – and if I’ll enjoy working on something else more, then surely I should simply follow my heart and do whatever takes my fancy? On the other, writing blog posts about different projects sounds more interesting to me… and to achieve that I need to be making progress on both fronts.

Oh, there’s a third hand! If I finish the cardie soon, I’ll get some wear out of it through spring (Scottish spring tends to very much be cardigan weather, indoors as well as out).

To date, there have been two things keeping progress going apace: the colour changes (I LIVE for the colour change), and the promise of putting in pockets. The pockets are now attached (though not sewn in, I’ll do that once it’s all off the needles and flat). Once I start the yoke and v neck decreases, that’s exciting too. This intervening section… I suppose you could say it’ll be smooth sailing. And to be fair should only take a few lunchtimes’ worth of work. It’s a great project for lunch – not too much concentration required, and no chance of losing my place if I stop mid-row.

I also veered further off course, as far as the original pattern goes, when I decided definitively that I wanted the colours to stop at about waist height. So I ignored the row count I’d figured out and just went ahead and used up the Mandala yarn. I knew that the point I wanted to end the colour was about 7″ from the armpit, and I wanted the pocket about 2″ below that. Now… I didn’t really achieve those two inches, since I forgot that there are five rows of ribbing before casting off for the pocket. But what’s half an inch between friends?

At this point, I’ll continue to use judgement, not row count, to determine when I’m ready to join the sleeves, and I expect the finished item to be about knee length rather than mid-thigh. Sounds nice and cosy to me. So I’m setting a course for the armpit (yikes) and once I get there I’ll consult the map again. I mean pattern.