My husband likes the yarn I bought and we picked out a pattern together. I cannot wait to start and see him wear it once it’s finished.
While knitting the band I discovered a marvelleous way of using the knitpicks gauge and needle sizer which I received in the free ravelry bag at the 2010 ravelry meet in Rhinebeck. I used it to hold my place in the pattern and read the pattern line I was working on magnified (see picture); wonderfully easy on my eyes.
I used the “magic loop” method for the first time ever on the sleeves and LOVE this method, so simple and I didn’t have to sew up the sleeves later.
I followed the pattern for L, but had to adjust both the length of the body (to 21 Inches) and sleeves (to 20”) for my 6 ft 4” husband.
March 4: After not looking at the sweater for almost a month during which I worked on some other projects I finally blocked the sweater; next step will be to buy the zipper and finish :)
I was stuck because I couldn’t find a zipper locally at a store. I ended up to special order one from www.customzips.com. They were very helpful finding the right color (I had sent in a bit of the yarn) and called me back to advise me on the weight of the zipper. The delivery was very quick (just a few days).
I put in the special order 2way separating zipper as that’s what my husband wanted and would have been all finished but for another request: Now he wanted pockets!
For the pockets I picked up 28 stitches three rows above the cabled border right from the middle of the fabric using the method explained in Issue 41 April 2011 of “Let’s knit” (a British knitting magazine). They are 5.5 inches wide and 5.5 inches deep. I purled one row and then knitted another five rows on the smaller size 6 needles creating an edge similar to the one on the sleeves. The pockets are 3.5 inches from the edge of the zipper band.
It’s his birthday Saturday and I am glad I finished the sweater in time. I will have to do a photo-shoot then.
I feel I did a bit of a sloppy job on the side seams of the pockets, but got only positive feed back from my sons…we’ll see. I can always re-do those seams.
After wearing the cardigan all day my husband commented that he likes it a lot because it fits better than any sweater he has had; he also likes the two way separating zipper which he uses (unzips from the bottom up) when in the car.