A Sweater Fit For A Man

09

Feb

This weekend I finally finished a huge FO.  I finished the sweater I designed myself for my husband, and I believe I can brand this one raging success.

Cabled collar & epilates

 

Pattern: My own design, currently nameless
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Solids 8 Skeins, one hell of a deal!
Needles: US 6 through out (I did this so that the K2, P2 wouldn’t pull in and would lay flat when worn & wouldn’t create a “muffin top” look)

Cabled Sleeves

The Mr needed a new sweater, and since he has been wearing his saddle shoulder ez sweater constantly I decided a hand knit was quite appropriate for someone who had shown so much love for the first sweater I knit him.

So I had set off in search for a pattern. I searched to the very bowls of Ravelry and you know what I came up with? Nothing. There was not one single sweater pattern for free or for purchase that was sized so that I could just knit it for my husband.

Seaming detail

I don’t think words could express how frustrated I was by this fact.  To search through so many different designers and not find one single person who had written a pattern to accommodate a man sized man.  I know some people have thin men in their lives, but I have never been one of them.  I grew up in Minnesota and I like a man that could survive the winter with out shivering to death like a half  frozen chihuahua.  There is also a certain attractiveness about a man that can haul a fridge strapped to his back if he were so inclined. (You might not think that would be useful, but it so is).

So what is a wife of this man to do? Do I let him go sweaterless because there isn’t a pattern to go by? No. (Of course I could knit another saddle shoulder EZ sweater, but if you’ve knit one, you might know it’s not necessarily something you want to do OVER & OVER again, and for a big man? a seamless sweater becomes quite cumbersome).

So I designed one. I used Anne Bud’s sweater guide as a rough outline, but you know what? Even she didn’t size big enough. So a lot of what I did I made up along the way.

Cabled Seaming Details.

 

It’s all in the details: My husband isn’t a man who (yet) will wear a full on cabled aran sweater.  He’s appreciates the “beautiful” stockingknit stitch, and though that makes for easy knitting, it also makes for boring knitting.  So there was a compromise.

I must be allowed to cable the arms.  He agreed only if he could pick out the cable. Fantastic! He picked out two cables and they turned out quite lovely.  I would have picked a more complicated one, but I think this is just enough and still “manly”. 

Another thing I did that I’m quite happy about is that I inserted a cable next to each seam stitch.  I didn’t think this was going to be a big deal in the long run, but it turned out so beautifully.

Cable seaming details.

It added such a lovely little unexpected punch.

Another thing the Mr requested was a cabled collar, he thought it would be really cool.  I admit I was a little hesitant about it, I was worried about it standing up weird, or that it might look like a necklace, or too girly, but I said I would try.

Cabled Collar

I’m quite glad I followed his request. The collar is beautiful and really subtle. I think anything bigger than this garlic braid he picked out would have been too much, but this is quite lovely.  I also added another twist to the cable on the epaulet because I wanted a full diamond repeat before the collar.  So many aspects of this sweater came together so beautifully that I suspect I must have had some serious knit karma built up.

He's pretty darn happy with the result.

So in light of this success, I have decided to finish the math and publish this pattern so that no woman will ever be want for a sweater in an extended size. I’m aiming for the end of this month.

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