Men's Cambridge Jacket

This is currently the biggest project I have going. I have been working on it for months now (mostly because I have not really been working on it). However, my husband is a good husband and deserves a hand knit sweater so I am working on it in earnest now.

This project began because my husband needed a replacement for a favorite sweater. He wore this sweater to rags, really. It was a fine knit boiled wool jacket with a front zipper that was purchased as a Christmas present at a name brand discount store. He wore it every single day. We could not find another at any store or online. So began the search for a knitting pattern.

I looked at my favorite websites, all my knitting books, every book at the library that seemed promising. Two or three weeks later I finally found the Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd in the 2006 Summer issue of Interweave Knits.

After receiving my husband's approval of the pattern, I began to look for yarn. The winner was Eco-wool+ by Cascade. It comes in huge skeins of 478yds for about $15 and comes in dyed or natural colors. I probably would've chosen the darkest natural color which is a really dark brown but my husband really wanted black so we went with the dyed black. I usually do not like the smell of black dye and was happy to find that this yarn did not have that (toxic) odor.

I have finished the back, front left and am presently working on the front right. It knits up quickly at less than 5sts per inch on size 9 needles.

In the end I will have spent about 3-4 weeks on this long awaited gift for a deserving and patient recipient.