Pattern: Cordova by Michele Wang for BT Winter 15.
Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Faded Quilt. If you are Canadian I highly recommend buying it online from Beehive Wool Shop like I did, fabulous service, Canadian dollars, free shipping on orders over a certain amount. Lovely all around.
Ravelry project page here.
Extensive mods detailed here.
I've already gone on and on about all the measuring and math that went in to knitting this sweater for Chris. I'm not going to sugar coat it, this was definitely a labour of love and despite the fact that I churned in out in two weeks flat, it was a pretty epic knit because I had to re-knit several parts more than once after realizing that my first modification attempts weren't going to work out as planned. This sort of thing is not for the faint of heart, but the results are so worth it! I wasn't certain that I was going to feel that way during the process, but I can honestly say that now that it's done and Chris wears it every single day, I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Chris loves it, I love it, everybody wins!
I am crazy about the textures in this sweater. I love the crisp cables. I think that the three identical cables running straight up, side by side, is such a modern take on the classic cabled sweater. It's very tempting to want to go full throttle with as many different complicated cables as you can fit on an allover cabled garment like this, and sometimes that's great, but in this case, I really love the simplicity. I'm also really pleased with the decision to use double moss stitch as the texture alongside the cables, paired with the stockinette stitch seams the lines are just amazing.
Like all Brooklyn Tweed patterns, there is so much attention to detail included within the pages of this pattern and I really appreciate that. It makes for such an enjoyable knit. I worked an extra knit stitch on either side of each of my pieces (each sleeve as well as the front and back piece) so when seamed you get a really neat stripe of stockinette up the middle of all that moss stitch texture that just makes my heart sing. Oh, and to take it way over the top into perfection-land that perfect seam runs right up from the ribbing. Those simple details are the reason I'm a knitter.
I love working with Brooklyn Tweed yarns. They are so different from our TFA selection and diversity is a good thing! This man-sized sweater only took 11 50g skeins, I have 7 leftover for another project. I always err on the side of too much yarn, running short is every knitter's nightmare right? And I love the colour so I'll have no problem using it again.
This sweater has been finished for a few weeks now and Chris has literally worn it every single day since. I might need to hold an intervention. Despite the fact that he lives in this thing, getting FO shots proved tricky since whenever we had time to snap a few pics it was the wrong time of day, or he was looking crazy after a long day in the studio... which is why the last two shots are super casual ones that I took while he had 5 minutes to veg out with Stella before running out the door to get Rowan from daycare. I love those shots, that's how a cozy sweater should be worn! I think that this experience made him realize how hard it can be to be on the other side of the camera! He's used to being the one taking the FO shots, not modelling the FO's. Though he does make a very handsome model in my opinion. I'll have to knit for him more often so we can get a little more eye candy on the TFA blog. ;)