Sawyer Pullover by Julie Hoover

Isn't my model for today handsome???  This is my husband, Joe, and although he's typically pretty shy around the camera, he's actually allowing me to use a photo of his face for today's post!  The little girl he's holding in most of these pictures is, of course, our daughter, Evelyn.  She loves cameras, and is a daddy's girl, so I was only able to get one picture without her in it!  But, I digress.  That's not what we're here for today.  Instead, I'm going to talk about a sweater I recently made Joe, the Sawyer Pullover by Julie Hoover.

Now, I've made quite a few sweaters for Joe in the almost 7 years we've been together, but I think this is my favorite so far.  It's made from Cascade Yarns Lana D'Oro in the colorway Charcoal, and has a beautiful thermal texture all over that was much easier than I thought it was going to be.  It's worked in pieces, so the front, back, sleeves, and button bands are all worked separately, then sewn together at the end.  This means there was a lot of finishing work, but I have to admit: although I prefer making seamless pieces, I love the look of seamed garments.

It worked up really quickly, and I love that it has a rugged manliness to it.  Men's sweaters can be difficult, because some of the fun knitting details can look a little feminine if done incorrectly.  Really, the only thing I found tricky was the sizing, and that's because Joe's sizing is tricky.  He's quite tall and thin, so what I ended up doing was mixing different sizes together.  I used the smallest size widthwise and largest size lengthwise, and it turned out perfectly!  I love this sweater so much, and Julie Hoover's designs are amazing.  This is the second or third design I've made of hers, and I have a few more on my to do list!