FO: Mike's Seamless Hybrid

Pattern: Seamless Hybrid from Knitting without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann, using the bottom hem modifications from Brooklyn Tweed, and adding in the shirt collar yoke modification. The neck is EZ's basic k1, p1 ribbed neck.

Yarn: Dark grey DK lambswool tweed, purchased on eBay from KingCraig Fabrics. The yarn is a little rough-feeling when on the cone, but once its washed it softens up beautifully - it didn't grow much, except where I stretched the sleeves to make them longer, but it did loosen up just enough to make for a nice drapey fabric. Careful with their auction advertising though - according to the auction I bid one, this was supposed to be 800g cone of aran weight yarn, but even after blocking this stuff is barely DK - I knit this jumper on 4mm needles, and my gauge is 21st/4 inches. But I shouldn't complain - after finishing this jumper, the cone barely has a dent in it. I should have loads left to make a jumper for me - and the whole cone only cost me £19!

The insides of the hems (sleeves and body) were done in Pingouin France+, a vaguely tweedy DK yarn that's been in my stash for ages - I think it was the very first sweater yarn I ever bought, but (surprise, surprise) I never managed to finish that project - I think the saleslady messed up and didn't calculate enough yarn for the pattern, because I remember finishing the back and 2 fronts of the cardigan, and thinking that there was no way I'd have enough yarn to finish it.

Comments: I made this for Mike - started in December 2007, finished late March 2008. It's the first sweater I've made for him - we've been engaged for over a year, so I think (hope!) we're past the risk of the sweater curse. :) Mind you, its still not done - as you can see, it still has a few ends hanging out (the ends at the neckline are hidden inside) - I want Mike to confirm that he likes the collar before I sew in the ends and make it more complicated to rip out and re-do.

This is a fully customizable pattern, since its entirely based on your own gauge, and a percentage system - the body is 100%, the sleeves are 20%. My gauge was about 5st/inch, so I cast on 196 stitches for the main body, and 40 stitches for the sleeves. This made it pretty easy to follow the pattern as written, since EZ writes it for a 200 stitch sweater. The construction of this sweater is pretty simple - knit three tubes that reach to the underarm, then join them together while knitting the yoke. According to the pattern, before the join the sleeves should be 2" shorter than your desired length; the extra length will be made up while joining the sleeves to the body... Before I blocked this sweater, I was convinced that the sleeves were going to be much too short. They have stretched a little in the blocking (on purpose!), but I'm still not convinced that they'll be long enough. If I were doing this again, I'd make them a little longer to begin with - or at least have the model on hand to try it on mid-yoke decreases. For now, I'll have to wait till Tuesday (when I get back to Canada - YAY!) to find out if this sweater is going need a little sleeve-enhancement surgery.
I really like the saddles on this jumper - I'm hoping that it will emphasize the squareness of Mike's shoulders, which is always a good thing on a guy. :) It's meant to be a slim-fit sweater, warm, but not overly bulky. I'm hoping it will look good over a dress shirt, for that casual office look, but I think I'll be happy if it just gets worn, period. :)

Ravelled here.