The sweater challenge, part 1

I have somehow agreed to make a sweater for Christmas, that's right Christmas 2009, which is in 5 weeks! And I haven't started yet!

This has happened because all the other genius present ideas I had for my dad fell through and I went back to a previously abandoned plan. After running it past my mum who said she was sure he would like a sweater I got hunting for pattern on ravelry and some yarn on the internet.

I knew what I needed, it had to be simple, machine washable, and fast to knit to make sure it would be done for Christmas and would be worn rather than being tucked in a drawer.

Final decision is lion wool ease for the yarn and a raglan pattern in the round- largely avoiding purl and speeding the whole process up. There were a choice of two, both based on the percentage method:
A top down version
http://www.knittingfool.com/pages/topdown.guest.cfm

and a bottom up version
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/FEATknitbynumbers.html

As I was waiting on wool delivery I knit a swatch and did the maths for both, they came out similar and I have opted for the bottom up version so I can add some depth to the armholes to correspond with an existing sweater (sneakily measured while on a trip back home).

There will be a few dimensions from the other calculation, like the slightly smaller neck sizing- as the wool is taking a while to arrive I knit a trial neckband to check it would fit, commandeering my OH's head as a tester (I wonder if I am risking the sweater curse by proxy!!??).

I will add some cables and a but of purling to make the pattern a little more interesting.

I am still waiting for my yarn delivery, sitting by the letterbox like a hungry beast, and am considering taking bets on whether I can be finished in time!