first down

Friday, October 05, 2007

"Awww mom, are these going on the Internet?" Yes honey, they are. Charlie wanted nothing to do with "modeling" this sweater, but a little tackle football with his brother? Perfect!

What can I say about this sweater that hasn't already been said? The pattern is perfectly written and easy to follow. The design is lovely. Even for children.
Charlie,12,(favorite sport:baseball)
I can honestly say, I love it on him.
Pattern: Colbblestone Pullover by Jared Flood of Brooklyntweed, Interweave knits fall 07
Yarn: Classic Elite, sky tweed, 9 balls
Needles: size 7
Modifications: I sized this down to fit a 12 year old. This was very easy to do. Jared has increased for each size in increments of 18 stitches. Therefore, I just subtracted 18 from the smallest size and cast on 158 stitches. Knitting two less short rows also made the yolk a little shorter.
Notes: Classic Elite Skye tweed has been discontinued. The yarn is a little rough to work with. Tiennie has mentioned it "softens" after washing. I never (rarely) swatch or block, so this has not been washed. We are really hoping it will soften up a little.

Charlie said he feels a little like Ron from Harry Potter. I don't know why he would think that? Edited to add: (because mom didn't know) Ron wears his mama's "homemade" sweaters and has red hair.
Have a wonderful weekend.

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79 comments

  1. Very handsome sweater...I love the picture of your boys together doing 'boyish' things.

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  2. great sweater, and great photos. i love that you are able to truly adjust patterns to fit. i'm still in a stage where my "adjustments" usually end up incorrect...

    your boys have red hair? are they stubborn guys? i have red hair, and i think that only my son (of the three kids) will get my hair, but i'm nervous he'll be a little hellion...

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  3. Anonymous10/05/2007

    Your boys are adorable. The sweater looks so perfect on Charlie. What a good sport for letting you parade him around to all of us eager knitters.

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  4. This sweater is so handsome - and it looks great on your son. I do like the photos too. You can thank him for agreeing to it ;)

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  5. that came out perfect!!!! it looks great!!! I can totally see him as a weasley boy.. :)

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  6. Anonymous10/05/2007

    fantastic sweater! and sweet boys. such "fall" photos - the yarn, the red hair, the leaves on the ground. a lovely combination!

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  7. Great pics! What a good idea to give your model something to do rather than just stand there and strike a pose :) Oh, and the sweater looks great!

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  8. The sweater looks great! I can't believe you don't block...all your pieces always look so finished, smooth, and perfect. I love your blog. I've been reading it a while!

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  9. It's great! Looks like they had a lot of fun with the photo shoot, too. :)

    Sizing it down is a fabulous idea and is it okay if I steal it, and size it down for my little guy?

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  10. I've been a lurker appreciating your blog for months but just had to step out of the shadows when I saw the words "I never...block". You just made my day!

    The sweater looks fantastic and I'm thinking of knitting this for my husband at some point (if I ever make it through everything else I seem to be starting lately - including Minimalist Cardigan from the same issue - moms have to put themselves first sometimes - hee hee).

    Thanks for the great inspiration!

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  11. It looks perfect on him. Love the photos.

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  12. Fantastic!! A wonderful photoshoot too!

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  13. I think it is official, this is my favorite boy sweater. I love how its cuteness doesn't get in the way of manly things like football.

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  14. Killer sweater! Now you are motivating me to finish mine...and I agree that the Skye Tweed is rough on the hands. According to Kathy Zimmerman, it used to be milled in England but when they switched to Peru the quality went down somewhat.

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  15. Oh it's PERFECT!! Love it!

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  16. Great photos! And a beautiful sweater! Glad he likes it. ;)

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  17. What a fabulous sweater and it looks great on him. You've got me thinking about adding it to my Knit List. Also great photos of your sons playing around.

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  18. Ron Weasley! I was thinking that too, what with the knit sweater and red hair and all. He needs maroon with a big "C" on the front!

    Great photos and beautiful sweater!

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  19. Anonymous10/05/2007

    the sweater looks great, leslie. i guess i never realized that your boys have red hair. can't wait to see what you do for libby.

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  20. Anonymous10/05/2007

    It looks fantastic!

    An easy way to do the washing/blocking. Throw it in the tub with a little liquid detergent. Let soak for a bit, rinse, then using towels, squeeze out excess water and then throw it in the washer on spin cyle to spin out the rest. Lay flat (in proper shape) to dry. It dries quickly overnight and then Charlie will have a much softer sweater to enjoy!

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  21. Anonymous10/05/2007

    HOORAY! Everything is fantastic- the sweater, the boys, the mood! Great job!

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  22. Absolutely perfect!

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  23. I love it! Its so hard to find knits that guys will wear. This one is PERFECT!

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  24. ok, so first off, you are so clever with your title.

    your knitting is amazing...and you are quick! The sweater looks perfect on him...that is a lovely shade of brown. nice, nice job, leslie!

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  25. What a handsome son you have! A good model makes a beautiful sweater even better.

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  26. Anonymous10/05/2007

    This sweater is just so darn beautiful! Every time I see another color or another one modeled it's just so lovely. To bad my husband has no intrest in it at all!

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  27. Anonymous10/05/2007

    I love it! I want to make one of these for my beau. You photographed it beautifully too. Great job!!

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  28. Anonymous10/05/2007

    He feels a bit like Ron? That's funny. :) Mrs. Weasley's sweaters are always a bit odd but yours is beautiful! And you knit it very quickly, too. I love the pictures.

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  29. It's beautiful....um, I mean handsome. Great sweater.

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  30. Anonymous10/05/2007

    I love the mini-cobblestone, I definately want to make a mini-mini cobblestone now!

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  31. Your did such a great job on it--it fits him perfectly!
    The shot of him in mid run is awesome (my favorite of the pictures).

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  32. Anonymous10/05/2007

    I think you should consider a career as a photostylist.
    These are FANTASTIC and truly show off a
    beautiful sweater on a REAL boy.
    Tell him he's much handsomer than Ron!
    Greta
    gretaknits.typepad.com/lifelong_knitter

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  33. The sweater looks great! You did a lovely job, it fits so well, and so ver classy.

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  34. Wonderful job on the sweater. I can't wait until my oldest gets home to show it to him. Not only because the sweater will probably rate high on the cool chart but to show him that there are others out there with the same beautiful hair color as him! As he quotes "only 2% of the population has red hair and it is quickly becoming extinct because people are not marrying other people with red hair...I'm a rarity!"

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  35. AWESOME! Looks great on him, goes with his "ron weasly" hair pefectly! Sorry I missed you today but my carpets look clean!

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  36. SPECTACULAR! You are a knitting machine. I love that you stayed true to the color of the pattern piece. He looks like a very handsome Ron. Congrats on another amazing piece of work.

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  37. the sweater looks great- i even more impressed that you got him to wear it while playing football in this heat!

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  38. that is a beautiful sweater. As always, I am in awe of your knitting skills. those photos look like fall-we should be having fall, but it hasn't arrived yet. My kids want to go to the pool and jump in the sprinkler today! Thanks for sharing your creation!

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  39. Great sweater! I love the action shots!

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  40. Your right this sweater wears very well. well done!!!
    luv Abby

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  41. OMG, the sweater is wonderful and looks great on your son! He did a nice job of "modeling" while playing football!

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  42. Anonymous10/05/2007

    Beautiful jumper and photos! And title. :)

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  43. Charlie needn't have worried one bit! The sweater is perfect and he's such a handsome, natural model. But don't let it go to his head :o)

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  44. Your son looks gorgeous in his new Cobblestone sweater! Great color choice for him too. His entire outfit from his shoes, sweater to the hip bracelets all work wonderfully together.
    Digging the football shots.

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  45. You downsized the sweater for a perfect fit and it looks great on him. Loved the photos :)

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  46. Anonymous10/05/2007

    When I saw this sweater in the mag I immediately wondered how it would size down for my 10 yr old. It looks terrific. My son wears a boys' size 10-12. Your son looks a bit taller. Do you mind letting me know what size swtr/swtshrt he usually wears so I can size down appropriately?

    Thank you for your blog
    melanie.plenge@comcast.net

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  47. Anonymous10/05/2007

    12? are you sure he's 12, he looks so savvy and mature here. and the sweater looks great.

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  48. I just knew you would have one of them finished by the time I came back from my holiday! And isn't it fantastic - it looks so worn in and comfy already and the colour is just gorgeous. I have been knitting on my holiday and kept thinking of you and how quickly you knit. I have nearly finished a little skirt for my oldest girl because I have been at it non-stop!

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  49. Anonymous10/06/2007

    It turned out perfect!! You did a really great job on the construction of the garment. Your boys are adorable!!!

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  50. You did it again!! Nice modification and it looks really nice on him!

    And I love all the photos! They are great!!

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  51. I saw a woman at my LYS working on this sweater, too. It's beautiful. You chose a lovely color for it, too. Perfect for autumn and young men.

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  52. The sweater is great!!

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  53. great sweater, les. charlie will look so handsome when he wears it to middle school. who's next...libby or andrew?

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  54. It's a gorgeous sweater and I adore the photos you shot. I love seeing a sweater in action and he wears it so well!

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  55. Beautiful sweater.

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  56. Anonymous10/07/2007

    the sweater really suits him. and so does the grass stain.

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  57. Oh it's fantastic!!! I really have thought about that one for T. But then I'd have to actually knit....

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  58. I haven't paid much attention to this sweater before now!

    It's wonderful on Charlie -the color and the textures are perfect~

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  59. Beautiful! A perfect fall sweater!

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  60. The sweater looks so GREAT! I look forward to seeing the group shot.

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  61. Great job! It looks very handsome on your son! It's also nice to see a 12y/o BOY wearing mama's handknits.

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  62. Your boys are so cute. They boyish kind of cute, of course. The sweater looks great! Especially on him!

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  63. handsome sweater on handsome lil guy!... double whammy!

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  64. It looks fantastic!

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  65. It looks really comfy.

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  66. Beautiful job, Leslie! As always. The photos of your boys are great. You always take the most fantastic pictures! I don't know how you do it. I am totally lame when it comes to photography.

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  67. I love it! And what wonderful pics of your boys.

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  68. Wow! That looks great! Love it and looks great on him! Great Job!!!

    Love the photoshoot - you are so creative!
    Jill

    P.S. I'm shocked you rarely swatch. I thought you did for sure - your knits are always so perfect!

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  69. I hear that from my family, too, "Are you going to post that on your blog?"...as much as I hear, "That should go in your blog!"
    Beautiful pictures - wonderful sweater!

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  70. WOW! Looks great! Thanks for posting your details of how you made the smaller size. I think I may modify it even smaller for my little Ron Weasley (poor little red-headed sons of knitters!)

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  71. OK, so those cute bracelets? How did you make those? They are awesome, I know my kids would love them!

    I'm also going to be baking up some of your zucchini bread for the family this week, thanks for posting the recipe!

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  72. I love that sweater! Your kids are so cute! (Don't tell them I said that. If they're anything like my boys, you'll never get them to pose for a picture again.) I've seen that sweater before--I'd have to be living under a rock to avoid it--but I never thought about doing it for one of my kids. It would look great on my 10 year old. I wonder if I could size it down more?

    Oh, and I did get the reference to Ron! (Allow me my moment of glory. I need it today.)

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  73. I must knit that sweater now! I wasn't sure how I felt about it until I saw yours. Great job!

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  74. now this may very well be a sweater that i can make for my beau. very masculine and stylish, unlike a lotta guy's sweaters out there! bravo!

    wanted to also let you know that my future mother-in-law is also a reader of yours -- and made your coffee cake recipe for us this weekend! so great.

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  75. Absolutely beautiful. The pictures are wonderful too.

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  76. Oh it's gorgeous, you have inspired me to have a go. He looks so handsome in his sweater.

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  77. i like charlies shoes. the sweater is awesome. i think of a buffalo when i see it :) (in a fun goodway)
    LA :)

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  78. Great pix of the Cobblestone sweater in action!

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  79. The Cobblestone turned out wonderfully, and your pictures are marvelous! In fact, yours is my favorite rendition of this pattern.

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