Timing is Everything

I guess it's kismet or fate. After I published yesterdays post, I was reading "Crazy Aunt Purl's" blog. She was introducing the following book:

Knits Men Want: The 10 Rules Every Woman Should Know Before Knitting for a Man~ Plus the Only 10 Patterns She'll Ever Need (Paperback) by Bruce Weinstein

Needless to say I checked it out right away and ordered the book. Maybe there will be a pattern in this book I can use, if not, I'm counting on the 10 rules to carry me through. Now I'll have to knit him a sweater.

When I talked about it at the store I received a couple of varied suggestions.

Lois suggested a poncho or "mancho" as I nicknamed it. I could just sew up the sides. The vision of that made me think of a caftan.

Beth thought about knitting it in strips with provisional cast on's and grafting it to the neck and sewing the panels together.

I asked Jane (Not Just Plain Jane) if she had any Men's sweater patterns in the works. She said that it's still rattling around in her mind. I wonder if I could channel Jane for inspiration.

I actually have dk weight cotton/acyrilic tweed in many colors that I bought years ago to make Joe a sweater. It would be great if I could get that to work.

The planning stage is still going to be long, with no promises of exactly when it will be done (let alone when I will start it). I have to keep my options open.

So Joe Wants a Sweater

Joe has decided that he is long overdue for a sweater. It's not like I haven't made him sweaters over the years (one of which he lost!) I even designed a couple for him. The last sweater I made him was probably about 6 years ago. A bulky hoodie in Sirdar Denim something.

So, we talked about what he wanted in his sweater. Here goes (in no particular order):
A looser neckline
The waist band should hug the body
The arms should be roomy (he flapped his arms to demonstrate how much ease there should be)
The wrists should be on the snug side
Longer body so it can bunch up
Thin yarn
Thin strips or abstract colors.

Oy!

There is a reason I haven't knit him a sweater in a while. My darling husband likes his sweaters big, 3X in fact. He also likes the sweater to be lighter, so dk weight. Do you have any idea how long this will take me????

Sheesh. I'm thinking top down for sure. Other than that, I don't know. This is going to require a lot of thought and planning.

Maybe Jane Elliott can design a Crazy Quilt Husband's Sweater? That would be fun.

Crazy Quilt Pillow update:
I caught up with Laura at Westport Yarns and we traded more yarn for our pillows/bags. When I came home I worked on the small leaf triangle. I used a funky green multi-textured yarn for the side leaves and purple chenille for the center leaf. Now the 2 triangles are joined together awaiting further instructions.