Magnum Opus

It has been some time, but I actually did finish the Fisherman's Sweater for my husband! I began this project back at the end of June, 2014. My goal had been to finish it in time for cold weather in November. Due to two moves and a lot of non-knitting snags, it took me longer than I'd hoped. I had hoped to finish it in time for Christmas, but I missed by a month. I was finished by early February, 2015. Just in time for Valentine's Day. It took me about 7 months to complete!

This has been one of my favorite projects (of course)! I love cables and this pattern has plenty of cable patterns. It actually combines about 5 different cable patterns into one sweater. My biggest fear throughout the entire  process was that it would end up too short and the sleeves wouldn't be the right length. Well, the sleeves were just fine. It did come out slightly short at the bottom. It is amazing what blocking can do!



I was also concerned with my ability to sew all the seams together. A seamstress, after all, I am not. Surprisingly, sewing the sleeves on and figuring out mattress stitch for the sides was not nearly as difficult as I'd feared. It also didn't take me as long to sew up as I had expected it would. I am fascinated with mattress stitch. It just disappears and the seam is invisible! Amazing!

So, on February 8, 2015, I completed my first winter sweater. It was knit with love for my husband, who is always hot, so I'm not sure if/when he'll even wear it! In any case, he has tried it on and to my utter amazement, it fits! I was most worried about the sleeves, but they turned out just fine. The bottom is a little short, but I was able to block it pretty easily and it "grew" another 4 inches. He was patient enough to pose for a picture while sweating to death in his sweater. He is a true fisherman, however, and it will likely come in handy on his November walleye fishing trips.

The question now is, what do I knit next?

A Labor of Love

For at least two years now, my husband has been begging asking me to knit him a fisherman's sweater. I finally started it. It has kept me busy; so busy, in fact that I have put off the blogging! My original plan to write something at least monthly has gone down the drain, but I'm back for the time being!

So, back to the sweater. My husband is a huge fan of Jaws (and, okay, so am I). He decided he wanted a sweater like Captain Quint's in the movie. While that's a nice fisherman's sweater; the pattern looks a little boring, so I had to find something more interesting. I found this gem on Craftsy. I have this thing for cable knits so it's perfect!

The kit was on sale on Craftsy and it just happened to be my husband's birthday that June day, so I ordered the kit. I set my project goal to have it finished by November so he can wear it this fall on his fishing trips. I'm a little shocked he wanted a sweater at all. The man is *never* cold. When I say he is never cold I mean he wears *shorts* in the snow!

Once gain, I digress...The kit arrived in late June and I got started promptly. I've been doing most of the knitting in the middle of the night after our two year old is finally asleep. Since he never rests, I am often not starting my knitting until 11:00 pm or later. My goal was to have the front panel finished by the end of July, the back panel finished by the end of September, and to have the sleeves done by the end of October so all I'm doing then is blocking and sewing.

I am excited to report that I am ON SCHEDULE! It is October 12, and I am working on the first sleeve. I'm hoping to have it finished by next weekend and have the second sleeve done by the end of the month. Then I just have to block it, seam the shoulders together, knit the neck, and sew everything else together. I hope I can do that within a month.

While I love what this sweater looks like, and it's a fun pattern to make; I am concerned it's not going to fit properly. The back panel was completed first. It looks great to me! The measurements are adding up (I even gauged this thing! I never knit a gauge swatch, and yet I'm getting better about doing that); but when I did the front panel it doesn't look right. The front and back are supposed to be the same length. When I measured them, they measure up, but looking at them side by side, they don't look the same. My hope is that once I've blocked it they will line up right. My biggest worry is that it's going to be too small. My husband is a big guy. I'm knitting the XXL, which is the largest size the pattern is written for. I will be sad if I've done something wrong and it doesn't fit. The only other thing I can think of is maybe I'm not taking into consideration the sleeves.

This sweater is kind of a big deal to me for a few reasons. The biggest reason is that it's a gift for the love of my life. Aside from that, though, it is my first sweater and my first project that has to be sewn together. So far it's been a fun project; even though I'm nervous about how it will ultimately turn out!