Friends

Jon's birthday was last week and my big secret project (which wasn't really all that much of a secret since I was knitting it in front of him, but he didn't know) was finally gifted to fitted perfection!

My Seamless Hybrid sweater for Jon!

Nicely sporting his knit socks too! A b-day present from last year!
I had wanted to knit this sweater for him since I first got the pattern book quite a few years ago. Jon, my friend Karen (who lived in Victoria at the time) and I went to Salt Spring and had an impromptu garage sale excursion. This was the only knitting book I found. I wasn't a hardcore knitter yet, but thought the book looked interesting enough. I paid a buck for it and didn't realize what I had in my hands. It was an older copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting Without Tears". It has a red cover and a picture of her knitted garments, not the same cover as the current publication with it's white background and purple hat. And at the time, I didn't even know who EZ was.

Her pattern writing is not conventional and she herself was not. I think she knits the same way I do. I cast on immediately and just sort of decide on things as I go.

I knit this up with less than 5 skeins of Indigo Moon's fingering weight. I knew Jon didn't like sweaters normally because he usually such a warm guy to begin with. Though when I saw the colour, I knew it had to be for him. The yarn and the pattern were a perfect match. Fingering weight meant a lighter fabric and I wouldn't have to cardiganize it.

The back neck has a bit of puff to it because that section is the only part that is knit back and forth, thus changing my gauge. I knew that was going to happen, but I didn't listen to myself. It still looks great because it stretches out when he wears it, smoothing out that puffy bit. Next time though, I'd probably knit with one needle one size smaller, just for the purl rows.

I knew I wanted a turned hem. It was a polished look that I was going for. I also wanted some knitterly fun, so I did the turned under part in some leftover soft sock yarn. A little bit of a secret splash of extra colour.

But before I folded it under and knitted the pieces together, I duplicate stitched in some Space Invaders. It was a nod to all the Space Invader tile art we found all over Paris earlier this year. I felt it would be fun to add a little surprise on there, like Easter Eggs on DVD's.

When worn, he can flip the hem over and see one to the right...

...and the other one all the way to the left...

I started with 6 skeins of turquoise and about 1/2 of the skeins were slightly lighter, so I alternated rounds with a darker and then lighter skein. I created this beautiful hand painted stripey effect. Quite lovely.

Also, 49 stitches were saved for the neck opening. I included the neckband in my calculations (also a turned hem, but using the same yarn with smaller needles on the underside) adding about an inch on either side. If it was any wider, I don't think it would look as good. I was a bit skeptical at first, but it fits great. I put into account that he may wear it with a collared shirt underneath, so the slightly larger neck opening was appropriate.

I gifted it to him that evening and he wore it all night... Then the next night too for a birthday dinner out. (Brasserie L'ecole if you were curious. They just opened up again after some extensive renovations. We had paint fumes with our dinner - yum!) He was never too warm. The perfect fabric for our mild climate. A fingering weight sweater may take a longer time to knit, but the fabric is what Jon needs. Better to take longer to knit a sweater that he'll wear, than something that can be knit quickly but lives in the closet most of the year.

I'm just glad he's just tall and not big and tall. Those arms were knit to 20" before the join! That's a lot of stockinette in the round!