I met Francis Chester, owner of Cestari Sheep and Wool, last spring at the TNNA Tradeshow in San Diego.  I really liked the yarns he was producing and enjoyed talking to him and hearing his story about how he and his family got into the yarn business.  In January I placed an order with Cestari and when this beautiful, rustic yarn arrived I new immediately that  I had to knit a sweater with it.

I searched on Ravelry and fell in love with The New Treeline Cardigan by the Purl Bee, I especially loved Elly's beautiful version .   I bought my yarn and began swatching.  As I was knitting my swatch I noticed how lovely the stripes looked on the "wrong" side and made a decision to knit the sweater in reverse stockinette.  With all those stripes going on I chose to skip the few stitches of ribbing that run along the front of the sweater where you pick up for the button band.

I was so excited to start this new project and the timing was perfect. For my 39th birthday my husband and I took a road trip to Whistler, B.C.; an ideal time to cast on my first sleeve.  I was able to finish two sleeves that weekend ( I actually knit three sleeves, I had to rip one out because I forgot to switch to larger needles after the ribbed cuff, grrr!).   

When I got home from vacation I started on the body of the sweater.  The edges were rolling where the button bands would be but I carried on thinking that once the button bands were in place the rolling would stop; (remember how I chose NOT to do the few stitches of ribbing…).  Every chance I got I worked on the sweater and was excited to be heading off to Squam soon, 8 hrs of knitting on a plane and then a finished sweater that could be photographed along the shores of Squam lake.  When I arrived at Squam I noticed that my stitch count was off and spent my first evening there ripping back to where I joined my sleeves!  So disappointing!  My classes at Squam were wonderful but I was so distracted with my unfinished sweater, all I wanted to do was finish it.  Unfortunately, the sweater was not completed at Squam but I did get to try it on and have my friend and cabin-mate, Karen Templer, snap a few photos.  The sweater was a little snug but fit well even though the fronts were still rolling.

Photo by Karen Templer

My flight from Manchester to Seattle was delayed by a few hours  so I was able to get a lot of knitting done.  By the time my plane touched down in Seattle I was almost ready to bind off. After 11 hours of knitting, my fingers and wrists were tired but I was thrilled!

The next day I  completed the sweater, washed it and layed it in the warm sun to dry.

I love it!  I love the yarn and love the pattern.  I love that it was knit from coast to coast.  I love it even though there are a few things I might do differently next time.  

So what would I do differently?  For starters I would go up in a needle size for a slightly lighter fabric (although, with wear, the fabric is starting to relax) and I would not ignore the few stitches of ribbing.  The button band does have a tendency to curl but it is also relaxing over time.