I made an impulse buy the other day: Veronik Avery’s Fuse pattern from the latest Brooklyn Tweed publication. And then I made another impulse buy: the yarn to make it. Blackstone Tweed in Cranberry. Oh my gosh, I love red. Love love love. Strangely, I have nothing red in my wardrobe, I guess because I’ve found it tough to pair with other colours I wear. What a lame excuse. So I bought RED.

The anxiety began almost immediately – I had to go down two needle sizes to get gauge, but the fabric seemed impossibly dense and stiff. Was there too much positive ease? Were the tweedy bits too much combined with the lacey bits? Was the pattern even my style? Was I actually going to wear this? I finally plunged my 2/3 of a sleeve into the sink, left it to block in front of the fireplace, took a valium and went to bed (kidding. But it must seem like I have a medical issue to be freaking out so much over a piece of knitting).

Calm reason prevailed the next day. Lots of tweed + vibrant colour + lace pattern = sensory overload. What was I thinking. I’ve already started swatching in a beautiful, soft, plain charcoal yarn to try Fuse again, because it wasn’t the pattern’s fault. Or the yarn’s fault for that matter; Blackstone Tweed is sooo nice, and super soft once washed and blocked.

I’m still on a quest for red. I’ll find it soon: a beautiful solid red, soft natural fibre, non-superwash, plied and worsted weight…