Since we moved to France It has become a tradition that I knit G a sweater for Christmas. The first year I managed to complete it before the day. Since then some have been nearly finished but last year it was just a promise (a picture of the pattern and a ball of wool.) This year, as I write, the back is finished and the front is started. Knitting for men is like long haul flying!
Unusually, this is a pattern that I have done before. I very rarely knit anything twice, but this was a great success the first time round and is one of his favourite sweaters.
The pattern is by my favourite designer, Marion Foale. It is called Lloyd and comes from the now out of print, Marion Foale Classic Knitwear book published in 1985. I found my copy on eBay – they do come up from time to time.
Marion was a top model in the ’60s and took up designing and making knitwear later in life. Her knitwear is hand knitted and sells in top shops for hundreds of pounds. There is an autobiography on the Marion Foale website.
This latest version of Lloyd is being knitted in petrol blue Debbie Bliss Rialto double knitting, which is one of my favourite yarns. The pattern is very interesting, as the shoulder seams are knitted together on the outside, which gives a distinctive finish, and then the sleeves are knitted on and decreased towards the cuff.
The picture today shows work in progress.
Alba Yarns blog 