The Ledger.

The Hainsworth melton is too heavy. Abraham Moon's Heritage melton, from their stock service in Yorkshire, has a textured finish I haven't seen anywhere else. Six metres are on their way and it's the cloth the Hampden will be made in.

The washed samples are back, and it hasn't worked. The agitation took the knit from a nice clean texture to fluffy. It didn't just change how it looks, either. It changed the structure, and the knit now feels loose.

So nothing will be washed before it's sold. The yarn comes clean on cone, and that's how it stays.

The peacoat pattern is now with Jonathan, a pattern cutter I've been recommended in Canterbury. He's the third pattern cutter to work on the Hampden.

The shawl, the placket and the hem are now knitted with three ends of yarn instead of two, so they're denser and hold their shape. The cuffs stay at two because they fold back. The buttonholes are cast off as part of the knitting, not cut and stitched in afterwards.

To date, we haven't washed the sweaters. The yarn comes 'clean on cone' meaning that it's already been washed but I want to know how it'll react if someone does throw it in their washing machine. We'll give it a shot and see what the result is.

The latest sample came back two to three sizes larger than it should be. The problem was sitting in the pattern files all along, a difference between two versions that nobody spotted. 

This sweater is now, finally, dialled in. Stuart reckons about six weeks from order to delivery.

The tech pack for the Stirling has gone to Bolton. After the lining trouble on the peacoat, I've asked them to check the pleat at the centre back and the ease in the lining at the hem before they cut.

Started on a cardigan today, with a shawl neck. I want the shawl and placket to be knitted in one piece rather than two that would be connected together at the back of the neck.

The collar is the main feature of shawl neck cardigan and when it has a really visible seam line, it feels like a compromise to me. I also think there's space for a shawl neck that isn't super bulky.

I love a traditional heavyweight cardigan but there aren't that many days that call for it here in the UK. It's always tempting to go heavy - on paper it's like shorthand for quality. But I think there's space for something more refined and breathable.

I'm looking at a waffle knit for the body to keep it breathable and I'll drop the standard pockets that they so often have. I'm not keen on how they interrupt the drape of the garment and really, who uses them?! 

Sample three has come back from Bolton with a note from the factory: the body lining doesn't fit. Back to the pattern.