Doing Something I Said I'd Never Do

I have said, and more than once, that I will not make a sweater for another person (baby sweaters excepted), and that if someone wanted me to make them a sweater, I would instead teach them how to knit, from cast-on, to bind-off, and everything in between. So how is it that I find myself the proud possessor of 13 skeins of bulky Lamb's Pride yarn? How is it that I have the measurements of my friend Brad in my possession, measurements which I took myself? How is it I got a pattern and needles sitting by my side, ready to cast-on?

Because I'm insane an idiot happy to knit for the people who are important to me. I've made several things for my friends from the Annual Pushing 50 Parties, from shawls, to scarves, to hats. Mostly for the women in the group, since most guys don't want shawls or lacework. And I would like to make something new for Brad, but really, how many scarves and hats can I make for him? So a sweater.

A sweater for Brad is no easy task. First, he is six-feet, five-inches tall. Which means he has a loooong torso, which will entail countless rows of knits and purls. His arm measurements are 34 inches. Neck to waist is 25 inches. This means a helluva lot of knitting. I think I'm going to incorporate the single cable up the centre of the front panel, rather than just straight knit and purl rows. It will make it a bit more interesting and challenging.

When we all met in January, and I took his measurements, I told him that I was not going to make him a sweater, that I was taking the measurements for when his daughter, who started knitting that weekend, was proficient, and she could knit a sweater for her dad.

Yeah. Right.

One of the first things I did when I returned from our gathering was to order the 13 skeins of yarn for this project from Mind's Eye Yarns. Here they are, all of them.

13 skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky yarn, 85% wool, 15% mohair, the colour is blue denim.

They came in while I was in New Orleans, and I picked them up Saturday from the shop. As I mentioned in my last post, I have so many on-going projects that I feel like an airport with too many in-coming flights and not enough runways. Do I really want to take on something as all-encompassing as a sweater? Especially one for someone of Brad's dimensions? Sure, why not? I've got just under a year to make it, and I can keep going on it while working other projects. I am actually considering making a spreadsheet to track all the projects I've got, the on-going ones, the abandoned ones, and the ones I want to get started (and I reckon that's a subject for another post).

I hope I get it right. With the recipient 500 miles away, I can't try it on him to see if I've gotten it right, and I do want it to be a surprise next year when we all get together.