This Could Get Interesting

I came trotting down the steps Saturday evening to find Hubby playing with my Cropped Poncho.

Step away from the knitwear!

When he spotted me he pulled on the poncho, then darted to the other side of the room so I couldn’t get to him.

You might remember he has been fascinated with my poncho since I finished it back in December.

His renewed interest with the cold weather proves I should have followed my instinct and made him his own last winter.

The poncho stretches enough that the collar will fit around his neck. But the body of the poncho then just puddles around his shoulders in a scrunched up, scarfy blob.

I decided to ignore him.

Then he said those magical words every girl longs to hear, “Maybe I’ll have you make me a sweater.”

(Of course he uttered the top magical phrase, “Will you marry me?” several years ago. He also regularly says, “I bought ice cream.” Hey, everyone's magical phrases are different.)

Rejected
All this time I haven’t suggested making him a sweater.

I didn’t want to pressure him or force the issue. I figured at some point he would come to the idea himself, and the instinct paid off.

Baru and I dashed up to the attic and grabbed a ball of the green Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine I bought during my Glorious Month working at Patternworks in 2004. Then we raced back down to the dining room credenza to get the Designer's Choice Book 2: The Sentimental Journey Collection that goes along with it.

I showed him the Ruben pattern (above), which I had selected for him all those years ago. At the time I was intimidated by it because of the cables, which I hadn’t worked yet. Then I became intimidated by the thought of making a man-size sweater.

Well, Hubby was decidedly underwhelmed. He said the sweater was ok, but didn’t like how loose the collar looked. He didn’t like the shade of green. And he thought the yarn was too lightweight.

Turns out he had some ideas in mind already. (I asked him on Sunday how long he'd been thinking about it. He said he wasn’t plotting this, it just occurred to him as he was playing with the poncho.)

He wants a mock turtleneck in a dark color, perhaps blue, but he’s open to variegated, or maybe tweed. I was worried this would turn into a situation where we searched for a specific project, without truly knowing what we wanted. What I really didn't want was the possibility of trying to design one myself.

Narrowing Options
So the pups and I went back to the attic and dragged down all my Rowan Magazines and all the Interweave and Vogue Knitting issues I have. Probably a dozen.

I set him to flipping through the Vogue Special Men’s Issue from 2002. All the Rowans were a bust. I didn’t make it to the other mags before dinner.

He liked pattern #3, which is a gray, two-tone zip front cardigan, and #12 which is a striped turtle neck (seen here).

During a bout of 3 a.m. insomnia I went through the Knitty archive as well. He liked Cheesy Puffs, but decided the two in the magazine were the best.

Easier Than Expected
Neither pattern will be a problem for me. They are both drop shoulders, so I don’t have to worry about shaping or anything.

I studied both patterns.

Then I informed him the cardigan is a bulky knit with pockets, so I thought it was actually an outerwear garment.

This seals the deal for the striped turtleneck.

I’ll actually be at KC Tuesday, so I’ll try to pick up the yarn then. The pattern calls for Rowan DK Tweed and Felted Tweed. I’m really sure we don’t have either of those this year, so I’m thinking Zara is going to be the way to go. We have those marled Chine colors, which might work, mixed in with solid colors. But I’ll see when I get there.

It’s all very exciting.

On The Other Hand
Now I have 17 balls of green Cotton Patine to use on myself. The problem is I still like the Ruben sweater, but it would be way to difficult to downsize for myself.

Currently, I'm thinking about making Garnet out of the same book. I had liked that one as well, but didn't want to buy enough yarn for both tops at the time.

Of course, that still would leave me with 11 balls. I guess I shouldn't complain. My undesignated stash has just increased. I'm yarn rich!