The return of the evil hemp cardigan

About 3 years ago, at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate, I bought enough hemp yarn from the House of Hemp to knit the Linda Cardigan from their pattern book. I didn't begin this project till the following Summer. When I began I had no idea it was going to take me two years to get to the end.

At first I was enthusiastic and threw myself into it, but I soon found myself getting bored. It was knit on 3 mm needles in a 2 row repeating lace pattern. The yarn splits often and isn't all the comfortable to hold. So it wasn't easy enough that I could switch off and just knit, but not interesting enough to hold my attention. It then got stuck for a longer period when I started to suspect that the sleeves were going to end up far too wide.

My enforced period of sitting has meant that I finally got round to finishing it. I fear that my feelings about the sleeves were well grounded, but I can't try it on properly because I am just way too large right now and it looks ridiculous. Here is the almost finished product. It does feel like a relief to get it done.

For anyone wondering why I'm still hanging round finishing tedious projects. I am not 12 days overdue and will be induced on Friday morning if nothing happens in the next 2 days.