My partner G is a very knitworthy individual. Not only do they enthuse wildly whenever I make them something, they then proceed to wear it *all the time*. This is great for morale – I know my work is appreciated and loved, and I get to see my creations dally in the cooler months (which is most of them, here in Scotland). They also don’t mind if I pause a project I’m working on for them because a birthday/Christmas/a new baby appears on the horizon.

Side note: the image of a baby looming over the horizon is making me chuckle. Sometimes one provides one’s own entertainment.

So anyway, with G behaving as though they’ve been reading a book titled ‘How to be a perfect knit recipient’, it makes sense that I’m averaging a production rate of one jumper per year together. The most recent was a request – we’d already made a ‘goth jumper’, with liberally applied dropped stitches, and now they were after a ‘goth cardigan’.

Cue much research and shortlisting of patterns. Keywords included ‘distressed’, ‘punk’, and ‘grunge’ and, as such, I’m not sure how I ended up with DROPS Midnight Queen (free pattern on the DROPS site) on my radar. It has none of those tags but did fit the bill, being as it is a relaxed fit, chunky cardigan with lots of not-too-ostentatious flounce about it. I conferred with G and it was pronounced a winner – but it needed an outrageous yardage. Over 4000 yards of sport weight – it’s held double throughout so you need twice as much as usual. Even at that, what an extraordinary amount of yarn.

It was at this time that, through more searching including key works of ‘yarn in bulk’, that I discovered the existence of yarn on cones. As you may remember from my first Morvarch Shawl post, this was an absolute revelation to me and I was extremely excited to order up two cones of Cashmilon acrylic (Yeoman Yarns link). Each cone is 500g and 2788 yards meaning I’d have some to spare, plus the total cost was under £25. That, my friends, is what we call a result.

The pattern itself is pretty good – if I were making it again I’d do a wrap and turn on the short rows, as I did end up with noticeable (if neat) rows of holes up the back. It was in keeping with the sightly grungy aesthetic, but not exactly the intended outcome, I think. Also the pattern has you knit in two halves then graft together, which I didn’t do, preferring to wrestle with the whole garment than end up with a Frankenstein seam up the back.

The construction is side to side, which was a first for me and I liked it! Not good for trying on, so I did have to hope that the measurements were accurate (which they were). It also features an English rib at the cuffs, collar and bottom edge. I’d never seen it before and I did like the extra level of detail. Once I got into the swing of it, it wasn’t much harder than a standard rib.

Not content with fibre crafts, I also made a little shawl pin to go with it. I sometimes play about with jewellery making – no precious metals, all beads and charms. I entered the collection phase of that hobby very enthusiastically, and the making phase with more of an ‘as and when’ attitude. But I had particularly wanted some goth adjacent charms and picked up these with delight from Nicole de Bruin (Etsy link).

The shawl pin itself (which is pleasantly punk, I think you’ll agree) comes with little rings attached, ready for items of your choice to be hooked on. And what could be more desirable than a skull, a lightning bolt and a flock of bats? The pin came from Amazon but I’m sure is available at other more reputable retailers.