The Silver Fox

We've seen the sweater go from this:



To this:



And finally, we have this:



Doesn't he look regal?

That's my Dad, finally modeling his long awaited sweater. It's knit from Lopi, a rough icelandic wool. I may never knit with it again, but I feel better knowing he appreciates its scratchiness. He feels its rough texture and knows it will last through years of hunting and fishing.

He really does like it and that makes my rough hands and hours of hauling around a large sweater, just to finish that last sleeve, worth it.

Pattern from The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd. Which despite the bottom up raglan directions is an excellent book. Just look at the results!

Unpoofen Man Sveater

My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to knit a man sweater. Not just any man sweater of course but one comfortable AND interesting. One that a man of a certain age can wear. One that won't drive me crazy. One for my Dad.




His birthday is today and before you go thinking I'm all thoughtful, you should know: this is a sweater I may have promised him a birthday or two ago.

Indeed I may have shown him a knit back o' sweater just to prove my fidelity to this project, when in reality I had none. That sweaterback proved to me the whole damned thing was coming out far too large and I had to rip it out. The Lopi I picked to match his silvery blue eyes was not too kind to my hands either.

That being said, I picked up the offending Lopi again and somehow it seemed softer. I began knitting it, in summer (think on that, Lopi wool + sweater+ humidity) and I've made some progress. Hello armpits! Never have I been so happy to see you.

Tonight my family is going to the ballpark and I'm going to knit my heart out on this one. Depending on how the Mariners play I may even finish it off. Unfortunately the old man was called away on business, so he won't be with us, but that will just give me more time to sew in ends and give it a wash.

This boring knit has been a welcome respite from moving, job hunting, etc. It also feels good to finish up some knitting I've been feeling guilty about. I have a few more things on that list and then, then I will knit guilt free!

Glee

A new year, a new sweater. A simple, raglan, top down sweater. It's Glee from Zephyr knits in Cashcotton DK from Nashua.

The cotton is combined with cashmere and angora, so it hardly feels like cotton at all. It's so easy I can do it even in my pajamas even amongst all my lovely piles of... what's that? Books, music, knitting supplies?
Anyway I started it a little over a week ago and I'm already way past the point in the picture, in fact I'm over 12 inches from when this photo was taken. It just looks better with a body in it then in a lump on my table. Soon it will grace Hilltop, as pink isn't really my color and I'd like some store credit. The holidays left my wallet a wee bit empty and momma needs some handpainted yarn. More on that to come.