Ragman

This jumper has been sitting on my Ravelry page as a work-in-progress since June last year under the title Henry's Ragman. Henry was two at the time, but I decided to cast on the 3-4T size, just in case I didn't get it done in a hurry.

That much was true - it sat with unfinished sleeves for 9 months, and when Henry, now 3, came to visit last week, I tried it on him. No amount of staring at it could make it look anything other than way too small. 

I checked my gauge, re-read the pattern, and I don't think I did anything drastically wrong. Henry is pretty much your typical three-year-old. Skinny arms and legs, average height, cheeky as all get-out. Could it be the pattern's sizings are just way, way out?

Luckily for me, my handsome young friend Joah had his second birthday this week, and as we're heading into winter in these parts, I thought maybe he could do with a special handknit for the cooler months.

And there's no denying, this jumper is boy all the way. It makes me think of a big cuddly teddy bear and, after all the girlie knits that have been completed here lately, it's nice to see something a bit different.

For all my frustration with the sizings on this pattern, it was a really easy knit - top-down raglan with the sleeves completed in the round on double-pointed needles. And using bulky yarn made it so quick - that is, if we ignore the 9 months it sat in a bag unfinished... I've used my favourite buttons again, this time big 3cm ones in a green check.

And I should take a moment to wax lyrical about this yarn. It's Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool, a 12ply that comes in mainly natural colours and actually smells like a sheep. In a good way. As my knitting obsession has grown over the years, I'm becoming familiar with that little thrill I get from the beautiful colour of a yarn, or how soft it feels in my hands, or the texture of it once knitted up. But I've never before experienced an olfactory tingle as I knitted. 

A few nights ago as I was finishing this off, I sat on the couch with a glass of wine  mug of chamomile tea, and it was the first really cool evening of the year. There was the faintest hint of woodsmoke drifting through the window, and the sheepy lanolin smell wafted up from the wool and a feeling of immense calm and satisfaction came over me. The next day I washed and dried the jumper (blocked, for those in the know) and it came up all soft and squishy and so, so beautiful. Yes, I will be using this Eco Wool again very soon.

Let's hope this handsome devil enjoys wearing his cardigan as much as I enjoyed knitting it. Now to cast on another one for Henry. Size 12, perhaps...

Pattern from here.