Manly Gift Along

Hey Hey Hey

I just joined and wanted to stop by and say hello and introduce myself. My name is Becka and I've been knitting for around 2 1/2 years and it is, indeed a passion in my life. After knitting for right at 2 years I broke down and began a blog, Whimsical Knitting, of which I've found that I truly enjoy, too. The other passion in my life is my husband, Lonnie-the best husband in the world, Hands Down. This is why I was so happy that I found this kal! I love to knit for that man....but, he never asked for anything and I was getting a bit discouraged. I had, of course knit hats and scarves for cold weather which he uses all of the time. Then I surprised him with a pair of EZ's Dream Socks, a simple short row heel and toe, ribbed leg sock and he LOVED them...so much so that I saw him wear and wash them several times a week (I have been on and off bedrest quite a bit for the past few months due to my disability, so he has been doing a good deal of the washing, etc). I then decided that he had to have another pair right away and I set aside the project that I was working on for another person and came up with Lonnie's Sport Socks, of which I'm happy to say he loves.

I decided that one of my Knitty New Year's Resolutions was going to be knitting more for Lonnie and myself and not everyone else. He has asked for socks, so socks he will get, socks and then more socks. I'm so proud of him, we were just away on vacation and during a yarn crawl along the route he saw a yarn that he liked in one of the shops (this one) for a scarf that he had asked me to knit for him from the book Scarf Style, "Forbes Forest"....I'm so excited to proclaim that My Honey is becoming an evolved Knitter's Husband and beginning to ask for knitted things! I'm so excited Even though I'm not knitting sweaters (I asked him about one a few days ago and he said, "I don't want a sweater, I want socks!), I will be around here for a long time knitting for my sweetie! Who knows...he may even ask for a sweater by next fall!

I'm looking forward to getting to know ya'll and to see what you are knitting for the men in your lives! As I mentioned earlier, I'm on bedrest and therefore I'm not doing as much knitting as I normally do, so if you don't see me around it's not because I've dropped out, just that I can't sit long at the computer.

Happy One and All!

Done with Manly Sweater #1!

I finished Jim's sweater today!  Here he is modeling it...

And a close-up of the chest cables...

I have two other men's sweaters on my list for the year - the first one is a Christmas gift for my husband's cousin's boyfriend (got all that?) who is in his late 20s and is very "fashion-forward".  The second one is another one for Jim and I have to design it - he wants it to be made in orange and black (the Harley Davidson colors.)  I have the yarn for it - Brown Sheep Burly Spun - so it should be a quick knit. 

I will be taking a little while off from men's sweaters though, so I'll be looking forward to seeing all of your progress here, then will be starting another one maybe in another month or so after I make some other sweaters for myself (of course, it's all about me!)

Sleeves, Sleeves and More Sleeves

I decided to give up on knitting both sleeves at once as the tangles were just driving me insane.  I had each ball of yarn in a separate drawstring bag and everything, and it was still getting tangled up after about five rows at a time.  So...I decided to put one of them on a holder, writing down what row I left off on for both, and managed to get about 20 rows done last night on the one that I decided to work on first.  This is taking FOREVER and I am SO not a patient person.

Here's a pic (not much to see here though!)

Have a great weekend and happy knitting!

Sleeve Island

I had previously gotten about 1/3 of the way done with one of the sleeves, then decided I didn't like how the cables/increases in pattern were coming out doing the sleeves circularly. So Friday night I ripped them out and decided to do them flat, at the same time. Here's a progress pic. Sleeves are just the most boring thing in the world to work on.

Back finished

The back of Gary's gray cardigan is finished:
Whew, that's very dull, isn't it?  But the object is to make a sweater he'll actually wear.

I'm thinking about some small cables on the front.  I'm looking through my books and magazines for ideas.

I'll be casting on a front this afternoon.

Liz

Participant List

Hi everyone,

Typepad doesn't automatically show the list of authors to a group blog, so I figured out a simple workaround in Typepad.  I just made a new TypeList and added blogs for the participants I knew the address for.  I am having them show up using just your first name, with a link to your blog.  I only knew a handful of the blogs, so if you want to be added to the list (or do not want to be on the list) please email me and let me know.  If you don't have a blog but want your email to show up on the link, let me know that too and I will add it that way.

Housekeeping issues concluded!

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Happy Knitting!

Robin

Finished the Body, Started the First Sleeve

Hi everyone! I've been kind of a slacker about posting to this blog, but here's my progress on Jim's sweater. I finished the front this weekend and started the first sleeve yesterday. Here's some progress pics...

I usually use Magic Loop for sleeves, and I started this one that way, but then decided to switch to the 2 circs method as I wasn't liking how it was so crunched up on the one needle.

Not only does a 'watched pot not boil'...

but constantly measured ribbing doesn't grow...until you stop measuring it; that is, LOL.

I'm just glad that the 2.25" of ribbing 192 stitches is complete!  The trick now will be remembering that the body ribbing is 2.25" instead of 2".   On the positive side; I think I'm the only knitter he hangs out around; so as long as he doesn't wear it to a Stitches Conference....no on will know!

Forgive me for the horrid cell phone pic...its wayy past my bedtime.   Doing the ribbing has re-emphasized my innner yarn snob....I LOVE the knit picks Decadence bulky alpaca!  The recommended gauge is Gauge: 3-3.5 sts=1" on #9-11 needles.  which produces a gauge that is too loose for this particualar guy.    I'm using a gauge of 17 sts = 4" on US #8 needles.     The pattern gauge (after felting) is 17.5 sts to 4" for a finished size of 44 (after felting).  I'm aiming for 45-46" finished; so he can wear it over t-shirts and take it off if he's indoors.

He's been warned that this is a hand wash sweater; and he still agreed to handwash it.  If he accidently felts this sweater I will accidently snap his neck...sweater curse...phewwwww.

Off to bed...I'll take decent pics with a real camera Thurs nite.

Finished the Back Cables!!

I worked on Jim's sweater last night and I got past the division of the front and back at the armholes, AND finished the 2nd cable pattern on the back.  I also modified my Sweater Wizard pattern to incorporate the 3 needle bind off at the shoulders, with short row shaping.  I've done the 3 needle bind off before and really like how neat it looks when it's done, but haven't done it with short rows before so I'm excited to be trying something new. 

I wish these pictures were clearer - but here they are.  The sweater looks small, but when I look at the front (on waste yarn now) it looks like it will be wide enough.  Also, as shown in the last photo, this yarn does relax when washed, and I factored that into the finished measurement.  So, I believe all will be well.

Yarn Arrived!

My Green Mountain Spinnery yarn arrived yesterday afternoon.

The yarn is a bit richer than this photo, and I'm very pleased with its softness and loft. I balled three skeins last night, and I will start the gauge swatch today or tomorrow. It is going to be quite a large swatch because I must account for all the different stitches in the original. I'm also hoping that I can get the plaited cable to fit in the center back.

And, I have to get to DH when he is in a good mood so I can measure him. Do the men in your life give you such grief when you have to measure them?

Marjorie