I finished my second Farmhouse Cardigan last week, and it had finished drying after blocking in time for me to sew on the buttons last night. I’m really thrilled with how it came out!
Project Details:
Pattern: Farmhouse Cardigan by Amy Christoffers
Yarn: Cascade Eco+ in “Aporto”, just under 2 skeins
Needles: Size 8s
Time to knit: About a month
I made a few changes to the pattern, just like I did for the first Farmhouse cardigan: I created the pockets with double knitting, and I added a bit of back-shaping, which makes it hug my curves perfectly.
One happy discovery was that this particular shade of blue, which is a slightly turquoise-leaning navy, seems to look really nice with just about all of my Willow Cowls!
My daughter enjoyed helping me take photographs of the sweater with each of them, in rainbow order. I think my favorite pairings are with the gold, the two greens, and the brown, but they all look pretty nice! My daughter’s favorite pairing was with the light greenish blue:
The Eco+ yarn, being worsted-spun, is quite different from the Bartlettyarns that I used for my first Farmhouse cardigan. They knit to the same gauge, but the fabric is quite different – this cardigan is more curve-hugging and also a little drapier than the other one. I tend to wear my first Farmhouse cardigan open most of the time, but this one, I think I prefer closed!
I remember being really skeptical about the Farmhouse cardigan neckline when I made my first one; it just seemed really weird-looking, while blocking. But it creates SUCH a nice fit around the neck, and I just really love it!
We’ve now reached the point where, as of this coming Monday, it will have been an entire year since I’ve seen my office. I’ve been teaching online for an entire year, and I’m staring ahead at 10 more weeks of this semester before I get anything even remotely approximating a break. I’m exhausted and burnt out, and I think sometimes it’s easy for people to look at the things I post on my Instagram, all of the knitting and the violin practicing, and think, “wow, she’s so productive, she must really have her shit together”, but I promise you, I don’t. What looks like “productivity” is really more like manic self-preservation. For me, knitting and violin playing are how I self-regulate, and it’s getting to the point where these things feel desperately necessary to an almost frightening degree; it’s not that I have my shit together, it’s that I’m completely falling apart, and the knitting and violin playing are all that’s keeping me from sinking into the abyss.
But at least I have plenty of yarn to keep my hands busy, and I will never run out of things to work on in the Bach Sonatas and Partitas. And I have something very good to look forward to: I will get my first vaccine shot on St. Patrick’s Day in a few weeks!
I hope everyone is hanging in there. This has been such a hard year.
whit::knits 
“What looks like “productivity” is really more like manic self-preservation.” Ok yes this is the best way I have heard this put! I’ve been trying to say this but I couldn’t figure out quite how. Like yeah, I finished 34 knitted items in 2020 including 4 garments (usually 20 is a stretch) but like… only because that means a lot of sleepless nights and avoiding taking care of myself and my house.
Here’s hoping the end of this crazy time is in sight – good luck with your first shot!