This is another garment inspired by one of my trips to Ireland. The church of St. Caomhán is an ancient ruin on the island of Inis Oírr. While people no longer worship there, the community keeps it free from the sand that filters down, constantly threatening to bury it—in the thousand years since it was built, so much soil has accumulated on the land that the church appears subterranean. Legend has it that if one climbs onto the altar and squeezes through the perilously narrow window behind, one is sure to go to heaven (we can’t recommend this, and yet, we can’t say we haven’t tried it!).

This is the sort of project that could only arise from the COVID lockdowns and not having a store to keep running every day. Looking back at it now I can hardly believe the complexity of it, and the absurd extreme of adding the horizontal cabled bottom edge. But despite the way it looks, this is a totally doable pattern for the dedicated knitter. It’s all broken down step by step. You have to be willing to jump between written instructions and charts, and to keep close track of where you are at all times; this is not one you want to be interrupted while working on.

Perhaps finishing this capelet is practically as impressive as securing a good in the hereafter. It’s certainly as daring and gutsy as climbing through a tiny ruined chapel window.

For most cables, you’ll be moving the knit/purl pairs together. You will only be moving individual stitches (as opposed to pairs) in rows 35, 39, and 43; 69 and 73; 101, 105, and 109; and in the side­ways cabling in the bottom edging. Read the charts and instructions carefully.

Pattern available in my e-book, and in the kits linked below.