My First Sweater

This was meant to be Eric's birthday present in October, but I didn't end up finishing it until Christmas. Since I wanted to make sure he actually wore the sweater, I let him pick out the pattern. He specifically chose this one because he liked the colors. I think it is Bill Cosby-esque -- hence the appeal.

Pattern: Guy's Raglan sweater, Knitscene Fall/Winter 2005.

Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa - 127 Print in color 18. I used about 11.5 skeins. I bought the yarn from Webs.

Needles: To get gauge I had to go down to a size 6 needle. I used Knit Picks options circulars for the body of the sweater and Inox Express circulars for the sleeves.

Finished dimensions: I knit the 43" chest size and it came out just right.

Modifications: I did a 1 by 1 ribbing for the cuffs and bottom of the sweater instead of the oblique ribbed pattern that was called for. Eric didn't like the look of the rolled stockinette. I did convince him to keep it for the neckline though and I'm glad we did. That the part that everyone complements.

All in all, not bad for a first sweater project if I do say so myself. I selected this pattern from the ones Eric chose because it looked so easy. Knit for the top down, all in one piece -- no sewing at all! I really enjoyed knitting this sweater and look forward to doing more top-down patterns in the future.

Here's a close up of the neckline: