Drumroll, please

Published on Monday January 9th, 2006

At last I have pictures of my father’s finished Christmas sweater. When I say “finished”, I’ll add the caveat that I didn’t actually get to block it. I wove in the last end around 2 a.m. on Christmas morning, having worked a couple of inches of 2 x 2 ribbing for the neckband that incorporated my dad’s initials at the back. The initials didn’t show up as well as they should have, and the cast-off edge of the ribbing looked too feathery and soft for a man’s sweater. So on Boxing Day I tore out the section with the initials and worked a further inch of ribbing all around so I could roll the neckband to the inside for a rounded collar. I bound off and joined the seam using the sort of fake grafting sometimes used for shoulder seams. It looked great. So it was time for a photo shoot:

This isn’t the view from my house, unfortunately. We went on a little hike to burn off a little of the awesome toffee bread pudding my cousin made for Christmas dessert, and this is the view from the top of our little mountain. Here’s a closer view of the back of the gansey:

(I apologize that only the thumbnails are available at present. I think we’re going to install Lightbox JS in the next couple of days, which will allow you to click on the photo and get the full version, so check back.)

I like to think of this as Dad’s Sound of Music pose. Pretty cute, eh? It really shows how the sweater needs blocking, though.

Specs for Dad’s Christmas Gansey:

Most of 8 balls (about 1550 yards) of Jaeger Luxury Tweed in color “fern”

US size 6 Addi Turbos, 32″ long – and thanks to Lisa for the loan of the second circ that let me work the sleeves in the round!

Design is my own, via Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’s basic instructions in Knitting in the Old Way and Barbara Walker’s excellent first volume of A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I used the tubular cast on and worked the sweater in the round up to the armpits, then divided to work the front and back flat. I joined the shoulders using kitchener stitch, then picked up stitches around the armholes to work the sleeves in the round. Lastly, I picked up around the neck opening (I’d left the stitches at the front and back center live, on waste yarn) and worked the neckband as I described above.

We’ll close with a gratuitous cute puppy shot:

18 Comments to “Drumroll, please”

  1. lyn Comment Says:

    Congrats on your dad’s gorgeous sweater! It looks and fits perfectly 🙂

  2. Kaitlyn Comment Says:

    WOW! It looks great on him! You’ve done an excellent job. I can’t wait to see your future patterns 🙂

    sadly, I am still sans template in my viewing on both IE and Mozilla.

  3. gleek Comment Says:

    wow, wow, wow!! that is just an AMAZING sweater, sarah! an heirloom item, for sure. and your dad is so cute 🙂 you both have the same smile.

  4. carrie m Comment Says:

    so impressive! you did a great job, and he seems to love it. cute pics, too!

  5. Veronique Comment Says:

    What a beautiful sweater! Amazing.

  6. Karma Comment Says:

    Fantastic! Your dad looks so happy and proud. Not to mention handsome in his wonderfully fitting sweater. What an accomplishment!

  7. Marie Comment Says:

    OMG that is an amazing sweater…what a lucky dad! He seems to really be enjoying it!

  8. amanda Comment Says:

    what an amazing sweater sarah. your dad looks thrilled!

  9. Lisa Comment Says:

    Stunning. Gorgeous. Impressive. I can’t think of enough grandiose words to express how awesome that sweater is. Way To GO! And that puppy has got to be the cutest thing ever. I can see all your sidebar info now, too!! Woo hoo!

  10. Skylar Comment Says:

    Wow! What a beautiful sweater. Simply stunning. Great job. I envy your knitting skillz!

  11. Jenn Comment Says:

    That came out beautifully!!!

  12. Katie Comment Says:

    The sweater. It is. Stunning. WOW! I am floored. Nice!

  13. Ingrid Comment Says:

    It looks great on your Dad! and he looks so happy. I have some luxury tweed for hubby when I finish his present sweater…this give me some ideas.

  14. Mia Comment Says:

    LOVE it. I love the pattern, and the fit for your dad is perfect! Congrats, you should publish the pattern!!

  15. minnie Comment Says:

    that is FANTASTIC! i can’t wait to see bigger pics!

  16. Virginia Comment Says:

    Holy toledo! The sweater looks fabulous! Those are really great pictures of your Dad, he looks really happy.

  17. Lolly Comment Says:

    Just stunning! What a beautiful sweater!

  18. Jess Comment Says:

    wooooo…. fancy! that is amazing. i’d love to see larger photos!