The Dude Sweater

One of the things I want to do in this blog is record my knitting adventures.  After long languishing on my needles, I am finally making progress with the Dude sweater. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-dude The Dude sweater is a replica of that worn by Jeff Bridges as the Dude in the film "The Big Lebowski."  This movie is one of Jim's favorites and since his aunt has long dubbed him "Dude", the sweater was a natural choice to make for him.  So, when Jim left for college, (yes, I have been working on this for that long) I started this sweater.  What I did not know when I started was that it was extremely difficult to knit long sections of color work not in the round AND in 1X1 rib. (excuse the knitter's speak) I kept searching for a trick on how to accomplish this and having found none, my zeal for the project waned and it sat for a long time.  So long in fact that my dear mother-in-law suggested that I would give it to Jim for a graduation present. (She did not say whether it would be graduation from college or the PT program.  That would give me another 2 years to finish.)  After Christmas, I picked the project back up and hope to finish the back very soon.  My plan is to finish the sweater by spring.  While Jim won't be able to wear it this winter, hopefully he will have it for the next and then for many, many years to come.  I wonder if I will look back on this blog post and think, boy, was I overly optimistic, or actually end up finishing this sweater.