“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…
It’s a neighborly day in this beautywood…”

Fred Rogers was--and is--the epitome of the best of humanity, and I love him. This sweater, which is for me (even though it’s a men’s pattern; I don’t much care), is in his honor.

Fred’s mother hand knit almost all of the sweaters he wore on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, so naturally this is being hand knit. And, like his sweaters, the cables on it don’t mirror each other. He’s probably pictured most in his red sweaters (though he wore green more often), but I hate red--and since Fred likes me just the way I am, and since pink is not only my favorite color but technically a shade of red, this works. Oh, and it’s also one of Phi Mu’s colors, and not only am I a member--Fred’s widow, Joanne, is also a member! So a win all around.

Let’s make the most of this beautiful day.

6/5 - The sweater made its first public appearance at a special preview of the Fred Rogers documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” The top photo on this page is with David Newell (Mr. McFeely), who complimented my apparel. I’m quite proud and touched. <3

6/2 - I sewed the armpits and wove in the ends a while ago, but I only put the zipper in today. And, OMG it’s so great! Admittedly I swatched but didn’t take that into account when knitting, so this will be another un-blockable sweater, but I love it anyway. The left side of the zipper is also sewn in a tad bit differently from the right, so it’s kinda bubbling up at the neckline, so that might get stitched down… but I’m still marking this one as done and totally, proudly wearable. I think Mr. Rogers would approve. <3

5/17 - Done! The knitting, anyway. It’s a little long, but that’s better than too short, I guess. Now to weave in ends, sew up the armpits, and figure out the whole zipper thing.

5/5 - So you know those 256 sts I had originally cast on for the body? WAAAAAAY too many. Frogged the body and re-cast on 212. Started again. Finished the ribbing. Yippee.

5/4 - Finished the 2nd sleeve.

5/1 - Finished increasing the sleeve sts to 72 (using the design from the Schoodic Cardigan I did before, as well as that pattern’s knit-on raglan method for attaching the sleeves), then knit 30 more rows.

4/27 - Finished the 9th repeat plus a few rows. Cast on the first sleeve in the round, 52 sts.

4/26 - Finished the 6th repeat.

4/24 - Finished the 3rd 10-row repeat.

4/22 - Finished the ribbing, thank God. I hate ribbing, all that back and forth.

4/20/18 - Cast on! I’m knitting the small size but changing the all-over cable patterns to just a few simple ones (8-st over 10 rows). Fred’s sweaters also featured cables that always twisted in the same direction; the cables never mirrored each other on any sweater. I’m not sure why his mother did it that way, but I’m doing it, too. I’m adjusting the stitch counts as a result, and the length as a result of my short torso. Knitting in one piece--screw all that seaming. ;-)