Men's Zippered Raglan
Men's Zippered Raglan
Pattern: in Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn: Malabrigo (100% wool, 215 yards) 6.5 skeins in Burgundy. Size 10 circular needles.
Gauge: 4 sts/in.
Finished size: I'm guessing here... 46" chest, 22" sleeves, I have no idea how long.
Started: January 14, 2006
Finished knitting: June 28, 2006
Finished: July 24, 2006
Notes:
Yarn substitution resulted in a smaller gauge than the pattern, so I had to modify everything to correct for my new gauge. And I decided to make a size that was between 2 of the sizes in the pattern. I used the sleeve modifications from Alison to get the raglan to look nice on the front and back. I added 1.5" of armpit depth before starting the armhole shaping. I decreased to the neck until it looked right rather than the specified raglan length. I ripped out a bunch of times.
Discussion:
The verdict? DF says he likes it! It's soft, warm, and apparently fits okay. He must like it okay if he'll model 1.5 pounds of wool in our 90 degree apartment. But only if you give him a popsicle. I must like him if I'll keep 1.5 pounds of wool in my lap for hours on end installing the !@$#%^ zipper!
I'm actually quite proud of the finishing on this sweater. You can barely tell the difference from the inside and the outside of the sweater and the neckband seam and zipper installation are both quite nicely done if I say so myself. I backstitched the zipper in place at virtually every row of the sweater front. There were times when I skipped a row, but not that many! I am still, however, paranoid that the thing will fall apart. I'll blame it on the softness of the Malabrigo though if you ask for my official stance.
This is the longest enduring project I've ever finished. I love how five months ago I called this sweater something that's been on my sidebar for ages. Little did I know. To give some perspective on how much I dilly-dallied on this project, in the time it took me to cast on for this project and weave in the last end:
- I cast on and finished 5 pairs of socks (finished a 6th pair that I cast on for two weeks before), Clapotis (if you count the second time I knit it), a pair of armwarmers, 4 hats (one pattern I knit twice and never mentioned it), 2 baby sweaters, a bolero sweater, 2 headbands (I knit the second Molly without mentioning it and one headwrap I ripped out), a baby dress, and a tank top - 19 objects.
- 3 different seasons of Knitty have been up.
- The temperature has gone up 70 degrees.
Much angst went into this project so I'm happy that I managed to finish it in time for DF's half birthday. Now I need to find a meat locker for him to stand in so that he can get around to using it!
Since this one's been blogged to death, I'll leave you with just a list of previous posts if it's been so long you've forgotten how I felt about this project.
Previous posts about this project
Pictures galore! on July 21, 2006
Dried berries on June 30, 2006
Tweed indeed on June 29, 2006
Do I look like the FBI? on June 26, 2006
Candy Cane Hat on April 17, 2006
No knitting pictures here! on April 10, 2006
He's too sexy for his sweater on April 3, 2006
It's not election day but... on March 5, 2006
Hey that's not burgundy is it? on February 23, 2006
So much for being regular on February 16, 2006
Let's play a game on January 19, 2006
gotta love having a camera on January 17, 2006
Beware! on January 16, 2006
Next up: Another baby sweater finito!
