FO: Grandpa Cardigan

Presenting the very last FO of 2007:

I call this one the grandpa cardigan, and it's actually been done for a really long time. I finished knitting it really fast, but then took a bizarrely long time to sew on the buttons. Jon was very patient through it all. I really like it, actually - it's kind of like Mr. Rogers, but older and blander.

Yarn - 5 or so skeins of Knitpicks Cadena (70% wool, 30% alpaca, 110 yards) in mist and some random amount of purple Lopi yarn I had hanging around for the edging.

Needles - 29" size 13 Inox greys. These things are monsters! It was satisfying to knit so fast, but it was also like knitting with vienna sausages.

Pattern - I totally winged this one. I got Jon's measurements and just top-down raglan-ed it until it mostly fit him (what? It's a grandpa sweater...it's supposed to be slouchy and ill-fitting!). For the sleeves, I picked them up and knit them after the body straight, and then decreased a bunch right before the ribbing to ensure maximum floppiness. Then, I worked a nifty, manful shawl collar:


I'm beginning to have a thing for short rows. They are kind of like a magic trick, you know? I have to say, though, that what really pulls the sweater together are the buttons:


Don't you think so? I pulled them off an old, icky acrylic sweater I had and had been holding on to them for awhile, and was planning to use them for myself, but they fit so much better with this.

So that's it, I'm finally caught up in terms of FOs! I'll do a much belated annual recap soon, and hopefully before the end of the month, join everybody in 2008.