FINISHED - HUSBAND HUG

Despite the various delays, I finally finished my dear husband's sweater. He likes to call the sweaters I make for him "hugs."

While I would like to take credit for this lovely pattern, I cannot. I modified it from Man's Entwined Circles Pullover by Melissa Leapman. Her pattern has the cabling front, back, and sleeves, but as I edged toward completing the front, I realized I did not have enough yarn to complete the sweater that way (cabling can really eat yarn), so I did a basketweave stitch (see below) for the back and sleeves. And since I had purchased the yarn on sale--and all that Heavenly Socks Yarns had in that dye lot--I could not get more. I trimmed it with red as a little different style thing. I finished the sweater using just over 16 balls.

The yarn is Classic Elite Yarns Chesapeake, half wool, half cotton. I had no qualms about how the yarn would fare as I'd knit the Ziplock Sweater from the same yarn and it kept its shape and styling throughout the Scotland trip. Unfortunately, the first time Hadan wore it (and just for a few hours) it stretched an inch or so. Perhaps this is why I don't like to knit cotton sweaters unless they are lace. I can only assume that at some point the yarn became too heavy, which resulted in the stretching.

Close up of the cable patterns.

Just like life, knitting doesn't always do what you want it to do. So what's the plan? Rip it out and figure out what I can do with this yarn that will work. Maybe an overall basketweave, in which case not all of the hard work will have been in vain.

Meanwhile, I've also finished a pair of fingerless gloves and will talk about this adventure in my next post. And right now I'm working on a pair of socks. Christmas is coming and my list of sock giftees is growing ... !

Keeping it real,

Reah Janise

Basketweave stitch:
  Row one: Purl two, knit two across.
  Row two: Knit two, purl two across.
  Row three: Knit two, purl two across.
  Row four: Purl two, knit two across.