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Like Rogue #1, but cardiganized.

Materials: 7 skeins Peace Fleece Russian American (30% Mohair/70% wool) worsted weight yarn in Snowmaiden.

Time: Several months intermittently in front of the TiVo except for one extended stint in front of the Atari.

Cost: $52.80 (including shipping costs).

After finishing my first Rogue sweater, I was so taken with the fit and the pattern and the fun-ness of the cables that I decided to make another one. As a cardigan. In cheaper, neutral-colored, and rugged yarn.

Rogue #1, in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, was all drapey and soft. Not so with the Peace Fleece -- I had to take it down to a size 6 needle and it was barely making gauge. This wasn't a problem in and of itself, because I wanted something that would wear like iron and act as a seriously warm winter sweater. The finished product (fast forward, you know, 3 months into the future) ended up being much looser, though -- I'd estimate that it's got 3"-4" of ease around the chest before it even has to think about stretching slightly. However, because the Peace Fleece is straight-off-the-sheep scratchy, I'll be wearing a few layers underneath it anyway. It's also such a damn flattering pattern that it could probably be downright baggy and not look gigundo.

Besides the whole making it into a cardigan bit, I lengthened the sleeves slightly in this version so that they'd completely cover my wrists. The extra warmth was worth it, but this was perhaps one of the reasons why I totally ran out of yarn when finishing up the attached i-cord to cover the zipper facing. I ended up with several extra skeins of Jo sharp when I finished up #1, but I didn't even have enough Peace Fleece for the cardigan version. (I suspect that the lengthened sleeve and smaller needles that I required to get gauge might have had something to do with this.) Because my impatient inner miser prevented me from digging up an extra piddling amount of the by-now-discontinued Snowmaiden from somewhere online, I decided to shorten the i-cord to 3 stitches across instead of 5. It wasn't pretty, but I had, like, 3 feet of yarn left when I was done. Victory!

There are plenty of clear instructions out there about how to insert a zipper into a sweater, but they neglect to mention that it sucks. Hardcore. It's all of the fussy fitting and basting and aligning and basting again and sewing and straightening and stuff. But the end result is worth it, because invisible hook-and-eyes wouldn't have been quite the same.

Did I mention that this sweater is warm? It is. It's so warm that I didn't have to turn in the portable heater in my office as I sat at the computer this afternoon, and normally when the indoor temperature gets into the 50s I'm, like, blue. So yeah, it's awesome.

rogue #2 looks great ! :)

Wow, that is one gorgeous, zippy Rogue.