Competing Centerpieces

I have a new challenge- I'm planning on turning this-

into this-

And my husband would like it done in short order. You see, it's already cold up here... and he's been waiting for this sweater to be knit ever since he first tried on the sample made for the photo shoot. Yep, the very one the model is wearing... and it fit him like a dream. Oooh, the feel of this sweater in the hand... Blue Sky's Worsted is just such a comfy yarn for a nice warm sweater. I believe he said something like, "You're gonna knit me one of these, right?" Right after asking something to the effect of, "Do we really have to give this one back?"

Now, if I was really thinking, this project would've made the list of my summer knitting goals... but with the way my summer ended up shaking out it may have ended up being one more goal unmet, leaving me exactly where I am right now- the end of November in Minnesota with a cold sweaterless husband who said something about burning the midnight oil for a few nights so I could get this done ASAP.

I don't know if husband-sweater-completion really merits any all night knitting sessions (I don't know if I have it in me this season) but crazier things have happened... At least this project uses a worsted weight! I did manage to cast on and get through the first of the 11 skeins this job will take. If I did a skein a day, I could finish in 10 more days, but that seems rather ambitious, consideringthe 6 little people I tend to each day and the time that seems to eat up(homeschooling them, supervising piano and violin practice, not to mention feeding & clothing them...) Maybe I'll shoot for 2 weeks...

I've made the slight modification of doing the body in the round, saving me 2 side seams as well as that inevitable time gap between sweater back completion and sweater front casting on. I have been known to do crazy things in that time gap- things like starting hats, scarves, mittens, baby sweaters, good books, get the urge to sew... anything to distract myself from that next step, that step that feels like starting over, right back at the beginning, especially when the pattern says "work as for back until piece measures..." (See what I mean? It's exactly like starting over...) I'll take any excuse for a mental block... can we say double-A, double-D? (He, he, that's the way my sister always says it...) Adult Attention Deficit Disorder... I'm an adult with a deficient attention span, and I guess that means I have a disorder. Probably nothing a cup of coffee couldn't help with...

Anyhoo, here's a pic of Day 1 progress-

Watch for more Men's Ribbed Sweater progress and other knitterly happenings soon, like, maybe tomorrow, and the next day, and the next... maybe...

Happy knitting,

ali