Progress on my Autumn Valley Sweater by DROPS Design has been… well, let’s just call it leisurely. The gorgeous cables are inching their way off my needles at the pace of a sleepy tortoise, and honestly, I’m okay with that.

I’m knitting this one in Dachshund Daddy Knits Irish Aran, a wool spun in County Kerry, Ireland, with all the rustic charm and lanolin-laced warmth you could wish for. The yarn is the sort that feels like it has history—soft but sturdy, with that just-right texture that makes cables stand tall and proud. Every twist and turn of the pattern shows off the Irish character in the wool, even if my fingers are currently working at half speed.

Thanks to chemotherapy-related neuropathy, knitting has become a bit more of an adventure. My fingertips sometimes feel like they’re wearing invisible mittens, and I occasionally drop a stitch or two (or three). But I keep reminding myself—slow progress is still progress. Each row, each careful cable cross, is a small victory.

There’s a certain kind of mindfulness that comes with knitting through something like this. When my hands cooperate, the rhythm of the stitches feels grounding, soothing, familiar. And on the days they don’t, I just admire how far I’ve come, pet the squishy fabric, and promise the sweater we’ll get there together—eventually.

So yes, my Autumn Valley Sweater might not be finished anytime soon. But it’s already doing its job: keeping me connected to the craft I love, one gentle stitch at a time.