Man Sized Raglanl



It's really hard to find a pattern for tall, broad man in 4 ply yarns. Most of the designs are shapeless and blah. Very few actually do a chest big enough for a 50 inch chest. I appealed to the Rowanettes and Rowanette Sam came through with this little gem. It's a Sirdar pattern, sized up to finished measurements of 60 inches. The one that I did was to finished measurements of 54 inches. My husband is descended from the vikings. He's got long arms, very broad shoulders and a very deep chest.

The rbbing details makes it more interesting than a sea of stocking stitch, but it's easy to botch the rib. I used a springy merino and reinforced the edges with sock yarn. Nylon's got to improve the wear, since my husband has a tendency to have frayed cuffs and the edging on the collar tends to go.

...the biz .. Pattern Source:
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Men's pattern
Rowan 4 ply soft + Sijl Soft yarn
14 balls + 1/4 ball
none
2.75 mm ribbing, 3.25 mm for body
160m/50g, 125 m/50g
Liberty, Gift
Beetroot, navy
approx 54inch wide, 29 inches long
19 April 2004
31 Oct 2004
1 May-20 Sept
Husband





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Project Notes


1. The rib pattern used
row 1 : knit
row 2 :* p7, k1, p1, k1*p7

I found this pattern to be easy to mess up when working the pattern on the purl side. So I swapped it so that the texture is created on the 'right' side. row 1 :purt
row 2 :* k7, p1, k1, p1*k7

...the biz ..


2. When working a sweater in this fine gauge, it's important to check your gauge frequently and to measure religiously. Considering that there are nearly 200 stitches for just 1 row on the front, ripping out 10 rows could negate a day's work
...the biz ..
3. Like all raglans, the best part is the making up. I lightly steamed each piece to get rid of the rolling. You, then get to lay out all the pieces and sew the arms to the body and the side seams last. After attaching the arms, I did the collar on a circular. Changing the original collar to a more simple one. The orginal design had you knit twice the length and them stitch it down so that that collar was a double fold of material. This sweater's collar was cast off in k1,p1 rib.
...the biz ..
4. Of course, all that sewing took about 5-8 hours to do. Here's the evidence of how much I had to do. I only cut the yarn after I had woven in at least 3-4 inches. It's not paranoia, but I wouldn't want it to unravel.
...the biz ..
5. Since my husband declined to model it, I decided to do it myself.

...the biz .. ...the biz ..

Yes, it's very warm and snuggly. That 4 ply soft is so springy that it hides all tension irregularities. It was worth the effort to make this, because that's what he wanted... and well, a wife should very occasionally do what her husband wants.








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