The Layoff Cardigan

070607 garter rib cardigan
Originally uploaded by maceknits

Ok, I didn't get laid off this year, but other people at my company did. Just before New Year's, my company tanked and I knew what was coming, even though no one officially said anything. As my co-workers and I speculated about which date would spell the end of our employment there, I started knitting this Cotton Cardigan from the Sarah Dallas Knitting book. Obviously, knitting eases any anxieties I might have anyday, but this project took on new meaning (which I didn't really recognize til I finished). I knit and knit through the layoff (early February) and finished. Finished the pieces, that is.

First off, I don't like to sew seams. It isn't any fun for me and I can drag it out. Anyway, I guess I likened this unfinished object (ufo) to my situation in life. With an unstable job, I was on the hunt for a new position, new company. And I subconsciously didn't want to finish this cardigan until I ended the unfinished business at my company. Why not finish the cardigan earlier and then hope that would translate into getting a new job faster? If only it were that easy.

To make a long story short, I'm happy at my new job and had a new cardigan to wear just days before my first day of work in June. But in my mind, this cardigan will forever be the Layoff Cardigan and will remind me of the changes I went through for half of 2007. Back in December, I had already planned to make this cardigan, but it definitely became something else.

Particulars:
8 balls of Rowan Yarn Classics Cashsoft DK
Size 5 and 7 needles
Garter rib pattern
what I changed: not much other than not using cotton for the Cotton Cardigan

Comments about the pattern: The pattern wasn't too difficult, other than piecing it together. Mainly stockinette stitch with a garter rib panel to keep the knitting interesting. In the end, I didn't think the fit was quite what I wanted. It's a little too boxy and the shoulders are wide. In this pattern book, I don't think any of the pictures really show off the patterns/projects, so it was a little harder to tell how this would truly turn out in the end. Still, I'm ok with my end product and have worn it a few times already.