Pullover sweater in simple 3X1 garter rib--a graduation gift for DH’s grandson, Logan. Logan chose the pattern and gave me guidelines about the texture and colors.

Holding these two yarns together creates a nice, heathered/ragg look. Love the complexity of all these colors -- very hard to capture in a photo.

I began swatching (bottom photo) back in August, 2013, but didn’t officially cast on for the sweater till April 15, 2014.

There are several methods for working the tubular cast on but after a bit of trial and error I decided to use Eunny Jang’s found here. I did twist sts in order to transpose this into a 2X2 rib rather than 1X1. Doing so greatly reduces the stretch of the cast-on but I agree with the pattern that a wider rib suits the overall design. I just found I preferred this method rather than the one suggested in the pattern itself.

My cast on edges for the sleeves are a bit tight. To improve flexibility of the cast on for the body of the sweater, I used my larger needle to work the cast on sequence through the twisting of stitches to achieve the 2X2 rib, and then finished the ribbing with the smaller needle. Much better this way. Will have to remember this tweak for future projects that use this particular cast on.

I knitted the torso of the sweater to 20” rather than 17.5” (before attaching the sleeves).

The 3-Needle Bind Off at the shoulders provides some needed support/structure at a critical stress point--important for a sweater that weighs a good deal. The corners and edges also needed some darning and shoring up to close holes or loose stitches in weaker areas.

To make the ribbing for the collar, I picked up the necessary stitches around the neckline, cut the yarn, and held these stitches on one needle. I then worked the ribbing separately, beginning with a tubular cast on to match the cuffs and bottom hem. Once the ribbing was deep enough, I joined the collar to the body of the sweater with a three needle bind off (right sides together) worked in a 2X2 rib.

For flexibility of the edges, I did cast on the collar ribbing with the larger needle and used it through the twisting of sts to achieve a 2X2 rib. Worked the rest of the ribbing with the smaller needle and then worked the bind off with the larger needle. This bind off also gave a bit of reinforcement to the neckline, again providing some needed structure for the weight of the yarn.

The yarn really softened up after washing. The dark, dark dye of the BMFA crocked a lot during the knitting process, turning my hands black. I had to wash my hands frequently. I rinsed and rinsed the sweater in warm water, hoping to shed the excess dye, and then rinsed it again with some white vinegar in the water. I will recommend using white vinegar in the rinse whenever this sweater gets washed. That should help a lot. But overall, I have no regrets about this yarn choice. Despite the bleeding dye, I think this will be easier for Logan to care for than classic (non-superwash) wool.

Hubby is modeling it for me in the one funky photo. If it fits him it will fit his grandson, Logan!