raglan filed

Officially, Cabled Yoke Pullover - Ann Budd, The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns (available from all good bookshops - you know who they are).
Jaeger Shetland Aran - shade 34, claret (apparently, a never officially released colour, but available from Jannette).
Just broke into the 6th ball.
Started 30th September, finished 20th October.
For a size 40", with some modifications.

And now, let me sing a hymn of praise to Ann Budd. Her handy books, from Interweave, may not look all rings and bells on first glance. No stylish sets nor antiqued accessories, no windswept winter landscapes nor summer sunshine shots. (I asked you to stop me alliterating - but do you care? No.) Pages upon pages of numerical charts, with simple, indoor, ordinary-people models, and even, shock-horror, clear photos of the actual clothes, unadorned, and elegant in their simplicity.

But if you have a hankering to pretend that you are designing your own, or if you want to use a different yarn, with a different gauge (being good, and stash-busting? Being fickle, and fallen for something new and shiny?), she will walk you through the changes. Want to make the cabled yoke pullover, but using Jaeger, rather than Rowan? Well, swatch, baby, swatch. (And boy, am I beginning to understand just how important those little squares are - and the cats have a growing range of cat-nip filled things.) Work out your gauge, read down the chart, and away you go.

And the best, best, best thing. Guess how many stitches needed sewing together in the in-the-round-raglan? 40. Yes, 40, forty, four zero, 40. 10 little stitches under each sleeve needed joining with 10 little stitches under the arms, 20 a side, 40 in all. And the stitches were all happy and snug to meet their mates. And I was happy. And after re-doing the neck (because, as I might have said before, someone has an over-large head), the wearer is happy.

I have 4 and a bit balls left over - matching hat/scarf/gloves? Or would that be a little too 5 year old for a man approaching his 30s?

Now, for the kitten news. Fran is currently missing somewhere in the house, probably under a bed. (Good tip - if cleaning is not always the most important thing in your life, and underbeds come bottom of the list, send a kitten in. They make very good dusters, with the added bonus of being self-cleaning.) Because Fran is beginning to explore the world outside her safe-room, and it is all *very exciting*. No doubt she will return when she wants something. In the meantime, a shot of intense kitten concentration. Ribbons can be hypnotic, you know.