In late 2018 Luke asked for an Aran sweater. As he is now full-grown, the answer is YES! I gave him all my pattern books to browse - I wanted him to pick out what he wanted. HE PICKED THE EXACT DESIGN THAT I MADE FOR MYSELF IN 1991. The body shape of the sweater in the Patons pattern booklet is pretty dated, so we used the shape of the DNA sweater paired with the cable design of the vintage sweater.

I started this for Luke in January 2019. 2019 has been an incredibly transitional year for me. I have worked on this sweater in fits and spurts. I’ve had to do quite a lot of careful figuring to place the old cable design “over” the contemporary body design. It’s coming out beautifully. (I love the cast-on I learned in order to make this sweater! It’s my favorite new cast-on!)

I’m calling this “Appalachian Trail” because Luke is planning to take a gap semester and hike the AT, in its entirety, in 2020. He intends to wear this sweater all along the way! That makes me happy!

10/28 - It’s done! He loves it so much, he said it’s too nice to take on the trail. (I kind of agree.) So now I’m considering making a plainer wool sweater for his hike. Or just buying a few from Goodwill that he can wear to destruction on the Trail. LOL