Purls of wisdom

After 15 years, Phil Saul thinks she may finally have won around her jumper-shunning husband…

Phil Saul’s knitted-sweater adverse husband experiences a break through

Most of the time, I‘m a live-and-let-live sort of person. But there’s one area where I don’t even try to hold back my opinions, and that’s in relation to converting people to the wonderful world of knitting.

COLD COMFORT

Given that you’re reading this magazine, I’ll assume that you already take a pro-knitting stance, but believe it or not, there are folk out there who don’t knit, and in some cases who don’t even wear knitwear. And I should know, because I’m married to one of them. I’ve heard all the arguments; knitting is too di cult, knitwear is scratchy, knitwear doesn’t look cool, there’s no point making something when you can buy cheap jumpers, socks, etc. I’ve heard it all, and I’m quite happy to challenge it. My own husband has never, in the 15 years I’ve known him, owned or worn a jumper. He has never worn a hand-knitted scarf. He has secretly designed a hat or two, but only if he thinks no one is looking. But here’s the thing: we live in a very cold, old, house. And my husband – an otherwise rational man – seems genuinely puzzled by his inability to warm up as he wanders from room to room in a T-shirt and jeans and thin cotton socks in the middle of winter.

WARMING UP

So we talked. He told me all the usual reasons why he didn’t wear a jumper, all the stu about feeling itchy and uncool. And

I sat there, not shivering, not itching, not looking any less cool than usual, in my cosy hand-knitted cardigan and socks, and at last I persuaded him to try wearing a jumper, just once. We agreed that I would make him a garment of his choice, and he would

make a genuine attempt to wear it and grow to like it. Progress! It took hours to choose the pattern, but eventually he settled on Jared Flood’s ‘Cobblestone’. I bought some subtly variegated deep grey yarn far more luxurious than anything I’d use for myself, because I so wanted him to like this thing.

MAKING A START

And then I cast on… Cobblestone is a simple design and the jumper grew rapidly. He nodded vaguely whenever I showed him my progress, but otherwise didn’t show any enthusiasm. I began to wonder whether I was wasting my time. Oh well, if he didn’t like it, at least I’d end up with an oversized jumper in luxurious merino to wear about the house. Then a few weeks ago, the temperature dipped further, and for the first time this winter our house felt properly cold. Most days, I wore several knitted garments at once. My husband grumbled that he could ‘just not get warm’.

CREATING A CONVERT

At the time of writing, the jumper is very nearly complete (and looking rather gorgeous). I just need to join the underarm stitches and weave in the ends. But I was still harbouring doubts that my husband would never wear this thing, until the best ever thing happened yesterday evening. My husband thought I was busy elsewhere, but I wandered into the kitchen to fetch a drink. I’d left my knitting on the kitchen table and standing there, voluntarily wearing the nearly-complete jumper, was my husband, and he was smiling. It’s early days, but I think we might have a convert.

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