Christmas is coming....

hahahahaha sorry. True though...and Dad has spake forth. "I want a jumper. Make me a jumper." No argument, no indecision. The man has decided, and only a sweater will do.

Gulp.

Oh dear.

I have only ever knitted 1 1/4 sweaters in my life so far. Both for me, so I don't really mind if they're a bit, y'know, not perfect. But this is my Dad, so it has to be a) perfect, and b) fit him.

Gulp.

Me: "Muuuuuuuuum! Helphelphelphelphelp pleasemeasureDad'ssweaterandtellmethesizes! Don'tlethimfindout!panicpanicpanicpanicpanic where'smyElizabethZimmermannbooks???"

Heh. Mums are the bestest. However it turns out my Dad has a 46" chest and likes a sweater around the 48" mark. FORTY-EIGHT INCHES!!?!?!!??!! That's like, humungous. That, for those who are in the 21st century and use metric, is 120cm. Do all men have such big chests? (I can feel a survey coming on.) Forty-eight freakin inches. I'm only a 36" (sadly) and that seems to take a lot of knitting. Even mum was mildly surprised, and managed to accost him in person for a double-check (using the excuse of him being on a bit of a diet and wanting to check if he was losing any weight...cunning, my mum)and yup, it's right. Who'd have thunk it. My dad, the barrel-chested.

Oh well. Luckily, I have 3lbs of Harris wool in the stash, which will suit admirably, (from here) and a quick order to New Lanark for some contrast colours completed the shopping list. By the way, New Lanark have put their prices up dramatically. I know they're a charity and a World Heritage Site and all that, but flippin eck, it was a bit of a shock. Mind you, it's still a very good price and lovely stuff, so I'll forgive them. Wish they could have warned me though, I'd have stocked up ;-)

I'm thinking to do a Seamless Yoke sweater, from Elizabeth Zimmermann (who else). I was originally thinking of the Seamless Hybrid (brooklyntweed did a gorgeous one here)but having never knitted a seamless sweater before, I'm thinking the yoke might be a little easier. It's also less critical on the fit, the hybrid really needs a known shoulder-width, and there's no way of getting that without letting on to Dad. I did wonder if the yoke version might be a little girly, but having had a browse on Ravelry I have seen some really nice men's versions, so that has eased my fears a little. I've got grey, cream, black and a limestone colour (sort of a creamy-grey-beige) so that should be suitably restrained for a male palate.

I just need to learn how to do stranded colourwork now and I'm all fixed.

Oh God. Send help.

~*~