Thursday 2 June 2011

I wish I was an Aran Cardigan...

He really doesn't look very happy,does he, sitting in the corner with his arms folded.
Maybe I should go back to the start of the story and explain the title.
France '98, to many people was all about football. There was a World Cup or European Cup, or some kind of big football tournament in France that year. But that meant nothing to the Dorchester Family. For us, France '98 was going to be our first foreign holiday as a family and we were really looking forward to it.
To go back even further.. when I was a wee girl, my sister, mum and I always seemed to get a new Aran Cardigan for our holidays. Walks around our campsite after dinner were always preceded by the instruction "don't forget your aran cardigan, it'll be chilly later"
So I decided that for our first camping holiday in France I would be needing and aran cardigan. I started knitting in plenty of time, or so I thought, but it wasn't finished by the time we set off on our big adventure. Needless to say, I somehow survived a holiday without an aran cardigan.
France '98 was so much fun that we soon arranged France '99 and a couple of weeks before we set off I got my knitting out and managed another sleeve. Yet again time got the better of me and another holiday without an aran cardigan passed by. I could go on and on and on about the inch that was knitted in 2000 just before we moved house.. the time I thought about knitting the second sleeve but couldn't find the pattern... the time I found the pattern and finally, the time I admitted I had completely lost interest in the cardigan and didn't even like the pattern any more.
And now, this morning, the last of the aran wool was used to finish off this little chap.

He was allowed to climb on the back of my chair.

Had a wee shot on the rocking horse.

And yet he still looks a wee bit sad. Dreaming, perhaps, about what it would have been like to be an Aran Cardigan.


Was it all too much , do you think, for him to see me start work on a new cardigan this afternoon ?
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3 comments:

Fiona said...

No ... how could you do that to him?!!!!! He wanted to be a cardi (but he's very cute!!)!

I had a lovely aran cardi as a kid, knitted with love by my Scottish Granny (as opposed to the English one!!). Shame it was woollen and I was allergic - but I wore it anyway whenever I had long sleeves on underneath. I loved that cardi until I was about 4!! I have the pattern for a new one, but have yet to find some yarn that is suitable for the pattern and that I could wear. Maybe one day!!

lamina @ do a bit said...

Awww I think he looks really sweet! It's so cool that you could make something so cute out of the remainder of the yarn :) ha ha ha funny post!!

Shirley said...

Oh no! How could you lose interest in a lovely aran cardigan? The poor we fella seserves to have his cardigan knitted up. Our entire family would be lost without our aran cardigans for the holidays, we all love them and wear them all the time. The perfect cover up, go on persuade yourself to get knitting and finish that cardigan. You know you'll all love it and wear it all the time.