Very Manly Sweater

[Kimbabwe]

Wow. You guys have all done such a great job on your manly sweaters!!

I just cast one for this last night and got about 2" done. I can see this is going to be a teeeeedious project! But I'm committed and I can't wait to complete my first real sweater -- and ideally by Christmas so my fiance can promptly reject it. Or he'll try it on and find that it would only fit an alien. I'm nervous about screwing up...!

I just hope that mine turns out as well as all of the awesome sweaters posted here!

Cheers!

[Kimbabwe]

I'm wondering if anyone might be able to help me out here. I hope this makes sense!

I am just nearing the end of the back of the Manly Sweater and have just gotten to the neck & shoulder shaping. To begin that shaping, it says bind off 8 sts (I'm doing the large). No problem.

Then it says work 28 sts and turn.

Now, here's my question. After I bind off 8 stitches, I am left with one stitch on the right needle; it's the last stitch that I hopped over to bind off the 8th stitch (you have to knit 9 stitches to bind off . Do I count this stitch in my "work 28 sts"?? Or do I work 28 sts from here, thus leaving me with 29 sts on the right needle before I turn?

It seems elementary, but I'm really not sure how many stitches I should ultimately have on the right needle before I turn! And it's a difficult thing to try and search the web for, as I'm not sure how to word it!

Any help that anyone could provide would be fabulously appreciated. Thank you!

Kim

[AmyKT5]

I haven't completed the whole sweater yet, but I did make both the front and back.  I counted that stitch towards the 28.  (I'm actually making the medium, but same principle, I just have a different number of stitches.)  I remember I was unsure at that point, too, but I counted out all of the stitches to make sure that's what you were supposed to do and I'm pretty sure that's what is meant.  It worked out that way for me at least as long as I'm remembering correctly!

[Kimbabwe]

Thanks, Amy!

I finally just chanced it, after doing out the math in my head and assuming just what you said -- I counted that stitch toward the 28 -- and everything worked out perfectly! I love it when that happens! (I just wish it happened more often...)

[Kimbabwe]

Here's my progress so far... I've completed the back (see below) and am about 11" into the front. Still on target to complete before Christmas!

I'm using Lamb's Pride worsted in Medieval Red (main color), with the bands in Loden Leaf and Oatmeal.

[MmmKnits]

Yours looks great, Kimbabwe! I just finished the back of mine, and am about to embark on the front (spent a good two hours last night obsessively planning out my rows to make sure it would end up the same exact length as the back). Since my boyfriend commented on how much he liked it when he saw it, I'm just doing it in the color pattern suggested in the book, but I like yours even better. It's slow going right now, since I'm trying to make it a surprise and can only work on it when he's not around (difficult, since we live together), but I'm confident I can get it done before Christmas.

One question for all of you Manly Sweater knitters out there: Mine is coming out fine lengthwise, but seems a bit tight in the width (the ribs disappear unless I'm holding them apart). This is something I can correct with blocking, right? I swatched rather lackadaisically, I admit, and am now nervous that I overestimated my ability to block it up to the correct gauge. Advice? Commiseration? Bueller? Thanks!

[awkward wave]

So I'm bumping this thread again... has anyone had any issues with the sleeves on this sweater?  I am making an XL for my husband.  In order for me to get through all of the increases that are listed in the pattern, I have to knit about 6 inches past the end of the color pattern, which makes the sleeve waaaaay long.  I am about to start the shaping for the cap and the bottom section is already well past the 20" that the diagram shows.  Help!

[Kimbabwe]

Yep, I'm just finishing up the seaming on mine (I did a Large), and I had to go back and re-do the sleeves just like a LOT of other people had to do in here. When I followed the pattern, the sleeves came out a) too long and b) too wide at the top, so that when I sewed them into the body, there was too much fabric left over and the sleeve join at the shoulder was all puckered and ruffly.

So I frogged back to the last row of the top 1" stripe, did the "In MC, work 1 row even," and then started the decreases again, but instead of decreasing 1 at each end every OTHER row, I decreased at both ends EVERY row, 11 times, then continued with the decreases every row 14 more times, according to the pattern.

So after the work 1 row even in MC, I did the BO 3 row twice and then worked a total of 25 rows (again, this was for a Large), decreasing 1 stitch at each end every row. Then did the final BO rows according to the pattern. This made my sleeves the perfect size, both in overall length and in width up at the cap. And, as a bonus, it also caused my body stripes to line up perfectly with my sleeve stripes on both sides.

Take a look through this thread -- a bunch of others had the same issue and did the same thing I did -- this is where I found out how to fix the problem! Thank God for Craftster!

Good luck, and post if you have any questions about how to rework.

[awkward wave]

Thank you so much, Kimbabwe!  I'm going to give it a try and see how the sleeve comes out.

[Kimbabwe]

Finally!

My first real sweater is complete. Took me a total of about 5 months from beginning to end (might have been easier to start with a baby sweater instead of a men's Large, but hey), but I ignored it for a bit after I realized that I had to frog and re-do the sleeve caps. I also got lured by a couple of other knitting projects over the last month or so, and every time my fiance would see me working on anything except his sweater, he'd say "That's not my sweater! You can't start knitting something else before you finish my sweater!"

Anyway, he seems quite happy with it and I'm more than relieved that the fit is right. The sleeves are still a bit too long, but he doesn't seem to mind cuffing them and I'd far prefer that they be too long than too short!

Phew! I'm very glad that this sweater is done.

      

[Sorry the photos aren't the greatest quality; when I resize down to the acceptable size to upload, they kinda' lose their sharpness...]