I'm so happy to be finally sharing the finished pictures of this sweater. I started it early winter 2009 and thought I would have it finished before the winter ended.  But zipper insertion mojo evaporated and it wasn't until this holiday break that I got all the components together and the motivation to put them all together.  I'm glad I pushed my way through it (and I learned how to use the basting function on my Bernina), because the zip neckline and roll over collar are really flattering on John. And I'm not the only one happy with the finished result!

In order to make this sweater work well for John I started off with the lower half of the sweater in the small size (he's fairly narrow through the hips) and used the medium size for the body above the ribbing where his broad shoulders take over.  Those adjustments created just the right amount of ease for him all over, instead of swimming in a sweater that is just to wide at the bottom, which has been a problem in previous sweater attempts.

The Terra is a silk/wool blend with a lot of silk, so this yarn is light and warm (perfect for John) but lacks much in the way of elasticity. Also perfect because once I blocked the ribbing out a bit, it no longer has the unflattering clingy quality that would have made it a no go for my fella.

One thing it bears pointing out about Terra is that it is not a "polished" yarn.  It has thick and thin areas, an a very rustic quality about it and even within the same dye lot, the color should be considered to have the same kind of variability as hand dyed stuff (see the back shot of the sweater -- the darker ares in the ribbing are pooling, not shadows). I really like it, and the outdoorsy, manly tone it gives the garment, but if you consider this sweater and don't like the little slubby bits in the finished garment, you might be better off selecting a different yarn.  What remains to be seen for me is the durability of the sweater.  The yarn is wonderfully soft -- definitely against the skin soft, which is what made it worth the cost.  And I've always liked silk for the strength it brings to most yarns, but this yarn is relatively lightly spun, and it's not clear yet whether the wool will want to pill with wearing.

This sweater got it's first outing on New Years Day (here's to hoping that start as you wish to go on applies to my husband enjoying his hand knit sweaters), hanging out with family.  The sweater got compliments from John's younger (and *ahem* slightly more stylish) brother and good reception from others who were surprised that it had been made by hand.  What could thrill a knitter more than hearing her husband happily let people know that his wife had made him the sweater?

I enjoyed making this sweater. It was a nice blend of two-color knitting, brioche stitch (which I will certainly be back to) and beautiful yarn.  I learned a little, pushed my skills in other areas and now have a "mold" for the kind of sweater my husband enjoys.  And even though the pattern may seem complicated at first blush, it was well written and easy to modify to suit my husband's shaping needs.  

Getting this sweater wrapped up on January 1 also works well with my "start as you mean to go on" thoughts at the beginning of 2011 -- I am still working my way through the many ongoing projects I have and hope to keep that going!

Happy New Years, Everyone!

Well, well, well... most of the major knitting on Aspinwall is complete.  I need to pick up some stitches and knit up the collar, but that's the last element in this knitting adventure.  It doesn't even look like I'm going to have to get concerned about running out of yarn -- something I am almost always doing somewhere along the way when I knit a large project.

Once the chest band of two color knitting is done and the sleeves are attached, it's a pretty easy run to the finish line.  It's a bit bulky moving the thing around, but I'm happy to deal with the bulk to avoid dealing with a lot of seaming later on.   Which is not to say I executed perfectly on the top half... somewhere along the way I seem to have picked up (or not decreased) a couple of stitches.  I've looked over and over and I can't figure out where exactly it happened.  One is on one of the fronts, the other is in the back.  I could have ripped back and figured it out, but since the extra stitches don't seem to affect the look of the sweater, I've decided not to worry.  I think this is one of the benefits of working with a somewhat irregular yarn.  The presence of big slubby stitches here and there softens everything and your eye doesn't really look for perfection everywhere.

After the collar goes in, the only thing left is to find a zipper and sew it in and weave in the ends.  Keep your fingers crossed that John will be wearing this item before the end of the month!

The sweater is worked in the round up to where the sleeves are joined.  Then the sleeves are worked and connected to the body to build the yoke of the sweater (it's kind of a bottom-up raglan construction).  Last night I cast on for the first sleeve.  Of course, even though I thought I had every size DP needle available, it turns out that I didn't have 4.00 mm needles.  A quick trip to the yarn store solved that problem (if you got Vogue Knitting this month, you can see a little article on Nina's) and got me on my way.  Of course, I didn't pay attention and the US 6 needles I bought were 4.25 mm instead of 4, but since it was only 2 inches worth of cuff knitting, I didn't see the point in worrying too much, especially since John likes looser cuffs anyway.

Beyond the status discussion, I am really enjoying working on this garment.  The half brioche stitch is an easy stitch to work with, the yarn has wonderful hand, and the colors are rich and saturated and very nice color therapy for the Chicago winter. The fabric is soft and friendly and I can tell John will enjoy having this fabric against his skin. I have also been pleasantly surprised to find that the deep red yarn does not bleed... in the past, I've had yarns in this color range be a little leaky, so it's nice not to have this yarn rubbing off on my hands.  It's also nice to be focused really on just one garment at the moment.  I promised John that he was going to wear this sweater before it started getting too warm out!

There has been much knitting of squares of late.  Diagonal garter stitch squares for my blanket and swatches for John's Aspinwall sweater, in the Fiber Company Terra yarn. The swatch on the right is the standard stockinette swatch, knit on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles.  My gauge is pretty much bang on for that one, even after a good soak and blocking.  The swatch on the left is the half-brioche stitch swatch, knit on US 6 (4.0 mm) needles.  I liked the flow of the stitch pattern (it's a K1P1 variant, but it moved a little faster for me than K1 P1 ribbing generally does) but my gauge is off.  I'll be ripping and re-knitting on US 5 (3.5 mm) needles next, and hoping for the best.

It's a real joy to knit with the Terra.  You might think that a yarn that is made up of 60% mostly inelastic fibers would be less than comfortable on the hands, but that didn't turn out to be the case.  It's delightfully soft, and the variations in both the color and texture of the yarn as I went along made it an interesting yarn to knit with.  I really love the qualities that silk brings to the yarn party when its blended with other things.  This yarn feels strong without feeling heavy, soft without feeling underspun or as if it is going to be a pilling nightmare.  I still have high hopes that it is going to make for one most excellent and durable man garment.

Time to rip out that brioche swatch and get back to work!

Hail! Hail! The gang's all here!  John's Aspinwell sweater is now ready to roll.

In what strikes me as stunningly good timing that involved three different online yarn stores (Webs, Knitting Central and Yarn Country) to get all the colors all of the yarn for John's sweater arrived on Saturday and Monday.  18 skeins of Fiber Company Terra in Beet (for the body of the sweater) and 1 skein each of Medium Indigo, Yarrow, Iron and Olive Leaf.  Since there was so much color variability across the interwebs with regards to all of these colors (to give you an idea, while the sweater in IK looks very blue, it's actually knit in the colorway called "Shale" which is very much grey)

I was a little worried about what to expect, especially with the Beet.  A touch lighter or more pink and the husband would have rejected it completely, even though this yarn has the most divine hand I've come across in a long time.  I mean, yowza -- fill up a bathtub with this stuff and let me dive it.  It's against the skin soft if ever there was such a yarn.  Even John seemed to enjoy feeling this yarn up a little bit.   And then there was my concern about how the pattern colors would go with the main color.  But seeing them altogether, I'm sure they're going to look great and I can't wait to get started. Clearly some swatching will have to happen soon.

One thing I should remark on for anyone considering this sweater... this yarn is pricey stuff.  Not surprising, given it's luxury fiber content.  And I've no regrets about it, given the rare opportunity I have to make John a sweater, I want it to be stuff that I know he's going to love -- soft and inviting.  However,  ordering it from Webs was great because in the amount I had to order it in, it was $4 per skein off the regular price.  While that hardly makes it a budget sweater, since 19 of the 22 skeins came from Webs, it knocked $76 off the price, which is nothing to sneeze at!

With this project, my new loom and a whole whack of sock yarn, I think I'm going to be hard pressed to be bored this winter!