Over the Christmas break, I decided to finally finish this knitting project which I started back in November 2020! This is the ‘Moomintroll Running Sweater’ from one of the Moomin x Novita pattern books, knit in Novita (Muumit) Moomin yarn.
In the five plus years since I first cast on this jumper, I’ve unravelled and re-knit it in full at least three times, and in part more than that.
This project was my first time trying intarsia and my first attempt was unravelled for being too messy, while my second was unravelled due to being too large. Once I finally reached the sleeves and neckline, I found that I wasn’t happy with the fit as per pattern, so attempted substituting the armholes and neckline from first one, and then a second pattern before finally being happy with the finished look and fit.
I don’t think being unravelled and knit again so many times was great for the yarn, and there is some pilling. I didn’t think of it at the time, but I also think I should have washed the yarn after frogging and before reusing it; the unravelled yarn still held shapes from being knit previously (it was quite ‘curly’) and it affected the consistency of my tension. I also wouldn’t knit with such a smooth yarn again, it shows up every tiny error or difference in tension which a nice fluffy yarn would cover up.
This jumper isn’t perfect, but I love how Moomin wraps around the body (his tail is on the back!), I can see that my knitting has improved lots since I first started knitting it, and – after five years of off and on knitting – I’m fond of it.
I’ve had a couple of long-term knitting projects (my knitted swimsuit was another) and I think there’s actually something quite satisfying about a long-term project which you pick up every so often, around other, shorter projects, and which you unravel and reknit to keep improving it and your skills. I definitely don’t feel like that about my sewing projects (I want them to turn out well and to start wearing them); I think knitting is different because it’s so easy to unravel and to start again, and because I’m normally doing something else while knitting – so it doesn’t feel wasteful of money or time, when it needs repeating.
