i'll build you this if you build me a house

my partner and i met a little over 6 years ago. it was "smitten at first sight" on his part (he'd known of me for quite some time prior to officially meeting) and it wasn't long before i too was smitten (it helped that he gave me a mix tape with amazing music on our first date, that we both drank tea, and that he used the word "smitten" to describe his feelings for me the day we met). we bought a house together 4 years ago, got married 3 summers ago, had our first child 2 summers ago...you know, pretty committed by standard terms.


anyway, i've been a knitter for about 3 years and have knitted several sweaters. many for babies and 3 lovely sweaters for me. according to ravelry, i have knitted over a hundred projects (110 to be exact).


 i've knitted for my husband several small things...mitts, wrist warmers, hats, etc. but i just could never commit to knitting him a sweater. why? ehn, i dunno...doing so would be a big investment, it would take a lot of yarn, a lot of time, and a lot of patience (he's 6'1 and long). and i wasn't sure he would fully appreciate it (being a non-knitter). in theory, i had a vague urge to make him one for a long time but kept putting it off...i was afraid of what i might do if he rejected it (grounds for divorce?). i had been willing to move in with the guy, combine our CD collection, get married, bear his offspring...but was unable to jump off the deep end and knit the guy a sweater. 


until a few months ago when i finally realized: I THINK I'M READY FOR THIS.


what caused the change of heart? i guess it helped that he was also in the process of building us a house... that was sort of the big push. a good trade i think...a house for a hand-knit sweater? pretty good deal on both of our parts. hah. 


the sweater is a variation of the pattern: "rogers-esque cardigan" by Mary Townsend. the pattern was a bit difficult to follow so i took some liberties...regardless, it turned out great. i also added pockets, which i lined with scrap blue yarn to preserve my sanity (it's harder than you think to knit for hours and hours in shit-brown yarn...you cannot fathom the joy i found in switching to blue, though my time with blue was short indeed). details of the pattern can be found here.

meanwhile i'm 1 day short of being 35 weeks pregnant. here's a couple blurry photos of me tonight, to go with the blurry sweater photos posted above (there seems to be no time during daylight hours to take photos; rather, i seem to only think of it when the sun goes down and i'm limited to terrible bathroom light).