You MUST swatch this pattern; preferably as a larger piece, and you should really wash it to really see how the pattern behaves. I think that with some yarns (in particular, acrylic blends) the pattern will pull to one side in an odd way. This is less pronounced with 100% wool yarns, I suspect.

I’m not actually following the pattern, other than the stitch. This is going to be an EZ-EPS style construction, bottom up, in the round, with cardigan v-neck steek.

stitch mods: I tightened up all the twisted st columns by knitting them TBL.

Yarn notes:

• nice earthy, heathery colours and great price (1/2 the price of Brooklyn Tweed)
• tweedy yarn with VERY LOW elasticity, which makes it very tiring to knit (esp. for cable-y patterns) - it’s like string
• two plies are not tightly coupled so they split, again making cables a pain
• lots and lots of knots - usually in ONE of the plies only - I’m just knitting over these
• the more-than-occasional tiny bits of straw
• the yarn totally changes character upon washing. And I mean TOTALLY. It blooms, softens a whole lot, and relaxes. Next time I use it I will wash the skeins as this wreaks havoc with gauge swatches.

I knit a toque, to ensure gauge. Provisional gauge: 5.67 st/in, so cast on 100 st for the hat on 3.25mm and knit first repeat of pattern for the ribbing edge, then switch to 4mm and continue.

Aug 5 2012 - finished toque and washed it and just laid it out to dry. Boy, did this ever relax!!! Gauge now is about 5st/in! The yarn softens a lot and the character of the fabric changes quite a bit - it’s a lot less stiff. The fabric has totally lost its extreme “rib-like” texture. It doesn’t look at all like the photo of the original sweater… Check out photo #3, which shows a blocked sleeve next to an unblocked one. And yes, the colour does change. Wow.

Starting on a sleeve; 40 sts with channel island cast-on (with single yarn, not double yarn), k2p2 rib for 3 in, then start in pattern, increasing 2 sts every 5 rows. I will stop at the elbow, give it a wash and provisional blocking to see if it is the right size.

Aug 9 - yup, looks good. The toque, by now, has been worn for a few days (yes, even in summer!! My son is a fashionista!) and has relaxed even more - down to 4.5 st/in. I’m counting on the fact that the sleeves are smaller circumference, and will not be stressed by stretching as much as on a head, and so will not relax as much…I’m not adjusting the gauge. Sleeve increases 2 per 5 rows to elbow, then 2 per 12 rows (2x per pattern repeat) above elbow to a total of 70.

Aug 12 - sleeve #1 finished, washed, blocked. Ready for fitting and approval before moving on to the second.

March 10 - back at it after some months off. 2nd sleeve done and setting up for body. Aiming for circumference of 40” or so; key number is 180 sts; cast on 161 sts (156+5 for steek) and inc after 2x2 ribbing to 181 (176+5 for steek) - inc 1 every 8th st or so. The pattern repeat is 10 + 6, and steam was coming out of my ears trying to get this centered at the same time as doing the increases…but I did it!

The back of the sweater needs to be longer than the front, so I will do some short-rows: add another “twist” to about 3-4 pattern repeats in the back. I figure I need an extra inch or so, judging by how other sweaters “hang” on my skinny son.

After 6” I will take it off the needle and wash/block to to check gauge again. I am SO nervous - I’m just not used to knitting sweaters!

OK, did that. It actually looks good for size! Next stop: underarms; this is where I will put in another steek for the v-neck, and also where I will start joining the two arms…have never done this before! Still have to decide if this is going to be a raglan or a “set-in” affair…

April 4 - Finally up to 1” below the armpits (18” body); this is where I start decreasing for the V-neck. I’ve put in a lifeline in case I screw up and need to frog! Leave the steek + 1 purl gutter stitch alone, and decrease 1 st on each side of those, every fourth row, for 60 rows (about 8”) - ttl decrease of 30 sts or 1/3 of the front - 2 sts every 4 rows. I’m doing an SSK on one side and a k2tog on the other, and attempting to keep in pattern.

Join arms after 1 full pattern repeat (about 1.5”: arms were left off ready to go with “row 1” of pattern)…I’ve settled on “set-in” from EZ’s Knitting Workshop. The number of sts to set on threads under each arm is 14 (=0.08 x 180) from each sleeve and from each side of the body. To make the pattern match better on sleeves and body I did less - 12. The pattern doesn’t match 100% but after the first inch the decreases will start and it won’t matter anyways.

April 12 - in a fit of anxiety I wetblocked this thing again, just to be extra, double, triple sure that it’s the right size. I’m totally paranoid. But yes, it is OK. Time to get on with the yoke section. Toby’s shoulders are 16” wide, so let sleeves eat body until 72 sts or so remain on the back. The front is continually decreasing for the V-neck and I’ll stop when I’ve decreased 30 sts there.

April 17 - God this is a slog now. Am slowly eating the sleeve sts until I get to the sleeve caps. It’s not much fun with the whole sweater laying on my lap. I can see the attraction in knitting stuff flat…smaller pieces…

Hah!! Done! Finished over the christmas holiday. The sweater, amazingly, fits once off the needles…I ended up doing a saddle-shoulder model from EZ’s Knitting Workshop, with the saddle being one stitch pattern wide.

Finished the front steek with crochet, done using a single ply of the beaverslide (I pulled it apart). Works nicely.

Sweater being blocked now. Buttons and pictures tomorrow! I have about 400g left, enough for a matching scarf.

Am very pleased with the end product. So is Toby.