Knitting time

Vintage pattern progress

A little update on my Mary Maxim cardie!

I am really enjoying this knit! it is a vintage pattern by a Canadian company, Mary Maxim and Jessica Fletcher wore a version of it in an episode of ‘Murder she wrote’.

I have wanted to knit a version for ages and stumbled upon a knitalong for it last year by ‘murder she cooked’ I was delighted to see other people really wanted their own version of this epic knit. After a scroll through some projects on Ravelry I decided to purchase the pattern and add it to to my long list of dream knits.

Fast forward to April 2026 and I requested the wool as my birthday gift from my other half. I decided on Cascade Ecowool for the main colour, a nice sheepy smelling wool and West Yorkshire Spinners chunky roving called retreat for the contrast colours, blue and black. I had read a few things regarding gauge issues as it is a vintage pattern so finding a suitable yarn was more of a challenge , I changed needle size to ‘ fingers crossed’ make it work. Vintage patterns take a lot more mental energy as no finished measurements are listed for each knitted piece, they didn’t hold your hand through the process back then as much as modern patterns do now, it was assumed you just knew how to do things like add a zip for instance, this will be another challenge for me once I complete the knitting part but lets not jump ahead. I have knitted a few vintage patterns over the years and they are always an adventure:)

If you are a newer knitter I would say Youtube is your friend and gauge swatches are definitely your friend. I am still not 100% it will fit me correctly but hey it is all about the ride.

I am pleased with it so far, this is my first intarsia knit, I watched a few technique videos on Youtube and I am enjoying the whole process opting for the cut as you go method, I have spotted three stitches I will Swiss darn later (wrong colour, black where it should be blue or vice versa can’t remember which), please remember knitting is forgiving and you can Swiss darn away little errors, in fact some people Swiss darn the whole project 😍 and there is always the option to rip it out and start again, it is all about the fun and process for me and a great bonus to have a wearable knit at the end.

I cast on for the back piece this eve, it is the largest piece so it may take some time but I feel more ready after knitting two sleeves and two fronts, I feel like it was good practice to start with the smaller pieces as an intarsia beginner.

Also the joy of knitting pockets everytime I make them is so good, like see how cute they are with their cute garter rib top

I will try and stay monogamous to this project so I have it for Autumn time.

It is so difficult as I sometimes just want to cast on something new, last week I knit two hats and a shawl with some Hedgeknits wool ready to have cute samples in my workshop. I have a few more makes planned but lets keep going with the cardie as I feel like it is flowing at the moment so lets go, go, go.