Proof Positive...

...that I haven't forgotten how to knit.

"Country Casual" from the ca. 1980's Patons booklet Knitting in the Round. Knit in Patons Decor, on 3.75 and 4.5 mm circular needles. Size 40" men's.

I finished this sweater for my brother, Chris, this evening. It's a bottom-up seamless pattern. This project has a bit of a story.

Back around last Christmas, my mom found a pair of matching sweaters she had stored away that my grandmother had knit many years ago. One was an adult size for my dad, and the matching child-sized one had been made for my older brother.

We tried the small one on his son (my oldest nephew, now four and a half), and though he still has a bit of room to grow, it will soon fit him. Sadly, the adult sweater was too small for both Chris and Dad, but we got kind of reminiscent, and Chris really liked the idea of a yoked pullover. A bit retro, nice and warm, a memory of childhood.

Luckily, one of my aunts, who lived with my grandmother and has never been known to throw out a pattern, managed to dig out the original pattern booklet. It's an old Patons booklet, complete with awful 1980's hairstyles. I remember that these yoked sweaters were extremely popular when I was a kid. Just about everybody at school wore one that their grandmother had made.

Happy to be able to make something that my brother wanted, I lucked into a half-price sale at Michaels after Christmas. He definitely wanted something hard wearing and washable, so Decor fit the bill quite well, while still keeping me happy with some wool content. Chris chose different colours (the original sweater was light grey with burgudy and black patterning), and a different geometric pattern than one that it was meant to replicate, but I think that this makes it even more modern and highly wearable.

Since Chris probably won't pose for a picture, Nick tried it on for me. (Obviously his arms are shorter!)


I get to present the finished project tomorrow evening and I can't wait to see him wear it. Chris likes to tease me when I'm knitting by calling me "Stella", my late grandmother's name, since she was also an incessant knitter. My response is always the same: "Tease away - you're comparing me to a good woman!"