New Sweater for My Guy

No, we don't worry about the curse around here. In fact, I've made my boyfriend a number of handknits, including two sweaters, without any dire results. The first sweater was a very warm pullover. He swears he likes it, but it doesn't get much wear because it's not really practical here in San Diego. The second was a hooded sweatshirt-style cardigan which he's worn nearly everyday for a couple years now. Since it's looking a little worse for the wear, I decided it was time for something new, something a little more stylish and a tad less casual.

I looked through the patterns I had and online and gave him about three or four to select from. He chose the Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd from the Summer 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. Then we went to my favorite LYS and picked out some Cascade 220 in a heathered charcoal grey (#4002). Lo and behold, this is actually the yarn the pattern calls for -- no fancy calculations needed to purchase the right amount. I think this may very well be the first time I haven't substituted a yarn in a project.

Before casting on, I read through the pattern to make sure there weren't any surprises and to see what I might want to tweak or do differently, using my swatch to test ideas. The first thing I noticed was that this pattern keeps one stitch at each edge in garter, whereas, I usually work my selvedges in stockinette when they're going to be in seams and slip-stitch when they won't. Since I liked the garter edges on my swatch, I decided it would be easier to do that then remembering to work some edges one way and some another. The next thing I questioned was the fact that the bottom edge of the center front, center back, and the cuffs of this sweater start right out in stockinette stitch which is later kept from curling with a single-crochet trim. I wasn't sure I trusted this and thought about putting ribbing there instead, but the single crochet tamed the edge of my swatch well enough so I will stick with that. Then I debated which increase to use at the base of each new purl 2 column where more ribbing is added in on the body near the shoulders. The pattern's increase was a M1 so I tried a left-slant M1, a right-slant M1, a purlwise M1, and a bar increase (kfb) for good measure. In this case, I found the make one purlwise to have the best appearance. Finally, I bound off my swatch as the pattern indicates the shoulders should be done, by decreasing each purl 2 column to one stitch before binding it off.

All in all, it seems that I will be making few, if any, modifications to this pattern, and I even got gauge in the recommended size 9 (5.5 mm) needles. I hardly know what to make of a project starting out this smoothly!

tags: knitting