I love the holidays. My husband and I don't observe anything, but this time of year is special to us because we get to share priceless moments with our families. We sip coffee, play board games, bond over old movies and fill our bellies with fatty, sugary goodies.
But for me, the holiday's is about giving. Not giving physical presents persee, but symbolic gifts that you never knew that you needed. I live far from all of my family, and my family is not very emotionally close. I maybe get to see my family twice a year if I'm lucky. So every year I give the gift of driving thirteen hours in our pick up truck, making the trip from the heartland to the east coast, to see my parents, and if I'm lucky, my brother and sister-in-law too.
Though my poor quiet Midwestern husband spends this family time downing ibuprofen and water as my loud New Yorker family talk at octaves not suitable for the indoors, let alone the Thanksgiving dinner table, I sit there, yelling and laughing back. And no, we are not yelling because we are mad, but because we are happy thankful for this one day of the year that we all get to be a family again.
People may ask why I live so far from my family, and why we don't see them more often. My family is imperfect, some may even say dysfunctional, but this routine works for us, and I look forward to it every year.
As a result, I usually spend a good amount of time late summer and early fall planning a Thanksgiving sweater. It must be breathable to endure the warmth from the Thanksgiving oven. It needs to have 3/4 sleeves, so that I could still prepare last minute entrees without worry of dirtying sleeves and to prevent said sleeves from dragging into my dinner plate. And lastly, it must be layer-able, so that I could wear it multiple times through the season in multiple ways.
And this is how The Pines Cardigan came to be. Using Anne Budd's top down seamless yoke design, the cardigan has a fool proof construction that is graded to fit most body types. The beginner friendly pine tree lace motif is inspired by my parent's home, which is nestled in the picturesque Pine Barren's of New Jersey.
And as mentioned above, I strive to only give symbolic gifts, and this cardigan is one of them. With this cardigan pattern, I am sending you warm and joyful holiday vibes. I am also sending love and laughts
The Pines Cardigan is available now on Ravelry as a free download.
Thank you,
Safiyyah x
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