Well, this post has taken a long time to show itself. I finished knitting my Pod of Cetaceans almost a month ago, but I’m just now getting around to posting about it.
I fell in love with this pattern from Elinor Brown the moment I saw it, and it fit perfectly with one of my goals for this year, which was to steek something! Yeah that’s right, I cut this bad boy wide open. The knitting was really easy—just a bunch of stockinette in the round, and then joined for the seamless yoke and colorwork whales.
I opted not to do any of the duplicate stitch, partly because I was running short of time and partly because… I don’t know, I just didn’t have it in me? I still like the back without the duplicate stitch that’s supposed to be there.
And the steeking? Well, it was actually not nearly as bad as it is made out to be. I followed Elinor’s recommendation to review Eunny Jang’s steeking discussion, and crocheted the steek edges before cutting. By the time I got to the cutting part, I was downright gleeful to be cutting into my knitting—there was a little moment of freedom and euphoria and it was a weird knitter’s high to think about cutting this thing I’d been knitting for a few weeks. Look, I said it was weird, okay?
I knit the largest size offered, as I wasn’t sure just how big the intended recipient had gotten since I’d last seen him and figured having some room to grow was better than it being too small. The cardigan is too big, and that’s okay, even if it means I don’t have any modeled shots.
My other knitting goal for this year was double-knitting, and I still haven’t gotten around to that yet, but hey, there’s still a whole lot of time left in this year. Right? Right.
(Delusions are fun, yo.)
You’re my hero. I’m still petrified of steeking.