Sweater and Ear Warmer done...

The ear warmer was easy - just a simple knit. I wanted a simple red band. The yarn is Zitron Gobi that was leftover from another project. 

The Horseshoe Cable Headband pattern by Sarah Gettel is free on Ravelry. I didn't have enough yarn to crochet around the edges but it will work fine.

Now Ray's sweater was another story. The knitting was easy - I began it last January and finished knitting in the spring about the time we were leaving on our Northeastern trip. I set it aside - all that was needed was sewing the pieces together, picking up stitches and knitting the crew neck. I decided over a week ago to get it done. 

I reread the directions which were minimal - “Sew sleeve saddles to front and back, adjusting length of back neck saddle strips to fit smoothly into neckline by adding or removing rows as needed.” The saddles on the sleeves were strange and I tried to work them into the back neck - isn't that what the instructions said? They were weird but I persevered. I picked up the neck stitches and finished the sweater.

When Ray tried it on, I hated the fit of the sleeves and the places where the saddles turned to the top of the shoulders were not even. So... I frogged the crew neck and the seams. I had an idea - only because I've been a seamstress for years. This idea did not come from any knitting experience.

I made those funny pieces of the sleeve saddles longer and created a yoke going across the back of the sweater. I used a kitchener stitch to fasten the two together. Then I sewed the seams again - all went together very well. I picked up stitches and knit the crew neck again and finally had a sweater that looked pretty good.

This is the back. The yoke piece is not even an inch wide. Now that right angle that you see on the left matches the one on the front of the sweater.

The pattern is Men's Cabled Pullover by Mona Schmidt. I think I made the sleeves a bit long - I will take care of that. I think if I block this again that all will be well. I can also remove a little of the fullness in the sleeves.

 I used Cascade 220 Superwash yarn which is 100% wool.

As happy as I/we are with the finished sweater, I'm hesitant to recommend this pattern. My experience was frustrating and I think the entire sweater would have been frogged without my seamstress knowledge. The instructions for finishing were rather incomplete. The good part is that I figured it out!