I’ve really been looking forward to knitting this and bought the yarn about a year ago, but it’s taken me all this time to get round to it.

I’m using the colours specified in the pattern, bar Phantom 153 (couldn’t get it, so I’ve gone with a similar shade - Treacle 145). All the balls were bought in sales, no more than £5 per ball, and I’m planning on knitting Orkney with the leftovers.

Gauge: After struggling with a too loose gauge, I’ve cast on again much tighter. One note about the schematic: it’s not terribly generous with the finer points! The bottom cast-on measurement is 40.5” for the smallest size as the piece is really an A-line shape with the stated 18” (smallest size) on the schematic being the bust measurement.

Mods: I’m knitting in the round up to the armholes. Also I’m adding length to the body (about the same length as given for the largest size); and armhole depth slightly longer (18cm) for my size.

1.11: up to the waistline now and it’s looking amazing. Tried it on last night and the tighter gauge is working for it; it seems great size-wise - quite fitted, but then that’s how I want it. The Felted Tweed gives such a dense, unwieldy fabric that I don’t want extra inches of this crunching up with every move! This isn’t to say that it’s not a soft yarn (because it is), more that it’s DK knitted on 2.75 and 3.25mm needles - the fabric is going to be dense.

One note about the chart: two of the symbols (for Tawny and Camel) look exactly the same. I had to consult the photos closely to work out which shade to use where!

As far as the pattern is concerned generally, it’s extremely clearly written and straightforward and, as another knitter has said, there are only two colours on the go at any one time so it’s actually not that difficult technically. The hard part will be weaving in all those ends!

8.11: knitted on a circular up to the armpits (about 61cm); now going to knit the back and front flat, back and forwards. I’ve also knitted the pocket tops.

3.12: December’s salutary lesson… I noticed a while ago that the sleeve fairisle pattern (in the photos in the book) doesn’t match up with the body fairisle pattern when it’s been sewn together. Having browsed the FOs on here, some knitters have obviously decided to ensure that the sleeve/body patterns match up - and I think this looks waaaay better. Having said all this, I started on sleeve #1 as per the pattern, thinking smugly to myself that I would knit it a bit longer (as usual with my long arms), keeping an eye on the pattern so that I would decrease for the armholes at the same pattern-point that I did for the body.

The thing I didn’t take into account is that the pattern sequence is a long one!!! and now that I’ve knitted all the sleeve increases and looked again at the pattern, I’ve realised that to reach the right point for the armhole, my sleeve will end up about 6 feet long. Although I have rather long arms, I don’t have the reach of an adult ape. I’ve considered all the options available, and I’m now ripping back the sleeve to the cuff. You can actually start the sleeve pattern anywhere you want - it doesn’t really matter - though you have to keep an eye on the increases/row counts. I need to step away from this knit, just for a while, until karma reasserts itself… I’m drawn to the F-word just now.

15.12: back on track with the first sleeve now, which I’m knitting back and forward as per the pattern (I don’t enjoy knitting in the round with 2 or more colours on dpns). After the cuff, I commenced the pattern at row 45, knitted a full pattern repeat (88 rows) and then started decreasing for the armholes at row 81 (as in the body). This means my sleeve from cuff to armhole measures 18” which is about right for my arms. note to self: need to take into account an extra 0.5cm for the top of the sleeve to match the extra on the body (17.1: added in 1cm by mistake (4 extra rows, rather than 2) - may have to adjust this later).

5.1: ploughing on with this knit now I have a bit more time in the NY. I’ve almost finished the first sleeve, but I’ve decided to sort all the ends out on the body first, as it makes it easier to check that the sleeve pattern/length is correct as I shape the top ready for seaming.

20.1: all the knitting is officially FINISHED!!!!

Finishing: Make no mistake, the finishing required of this knit is possibly as much work as the knitting itself. I figure that if I’ve spent this much time on the fairisle pattern and making sure that the knit fits well, then I need to put this work in to make sure the finishing is as good as possible. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.

I’ve considered, at the start, all the ways possible to minimise ends/make it easier to deal with them (splicing, knotting, plaiting), but I’ve ended up basically weaving each end in individually (here and there, where there’s a one-colour row, I’ve carried/woven in an end like a float). It’s incredibly time-consuming and mind-numbingly boring - I mean, there must be hundreds of ends - but I’m doing it bit by bit, and you do get there in the end (…or you give up!). And you do get a bit of extra thickness where you’ve sewn so many ends in, but it’s not too noticeable and I’ve also realised that, with this ‘sticky’ yarn, you don’t have to weave them in very far.

Neck ribbing/pocket tops: I cast off these as firmly as I could - imo, it really does need this. I’ve damp-ironed the pocket linings and held them in place with safety pins to make it easier to slip-st them into place.

Blocking: I’ve washed and blocked the body and sleeves separately: I find this helps no end when you’re seaming the pieces together.

27.1: finished today - the most challenging knit of my life! Little niggles: I like the fit on the body in this smallest size, but the shoulders and sleeves are rather roomy in comparison; the neckline is quite generous - I could have picked up less sts, but I’m not going to revisit this; and also I’ve probably knitted the sleeves a little bit too long. Learning point: I should have knitted the sleeves straight for longer, then worked the increases, as the sleeves are designed as ‘bracelet’ length, rather than full length.

But! today it’s finished! I think it’s brilliant, I love the intricate fairisle patterning and I’m so pleased to be finally wearing it. It’s certainly a real personal knitting achievement.

Yardage: I bought an extra ball of Clay 177, as the 2 balls didn’t look enough; actually, I used only a couple of yards of the 3rd ball, but I did need it! I used about half a ball of most of the other colours which required 1 ball, though I just scraped through with the Peony, Camel and Watery. I only used a little bit of the 2nd ball of Hedgerow.

The yarn itself is wonderful and I can’t imagine trying/wanting to substitute anything else; it’s listed as DK but always seems more like sport weight to me, and also the colours are so beautiful - heathery and tweedy.