On the needles:
1. Flax sweater
I’m currently 12.5 inches from cast on. I’m cautiously LOVING top-down sweaters. LOVING THEM. Seriously- the separation of sleeves from the body is GENIUS, and eliminates the concerns I have with bottom-up sweaters. (You know the whole having to attach sleeves, and the horror stories I’ve heard about having gaps and holes, and extra fabric bunching up at the join…)
I would be farther along, but yesterday’s knitting session was cut short by a bout of food poisoning. Nothing too graphic, just a lot of misery. Today continues the misery, but the stomach cramps have stopped, so at least I can start knitting again.
2. Hubby socks
Yep, still not finished. š
3. Dad’s blanket
I will probably switch to this being my main project, as my dad’s birthday is only 19 days away.
I leave you with Google modelling my sweater.
It’s a little baggy on him.
Duck And Cover 
I love a good top down sweater! I definitely prefer being able to try it on as I go and made my modifications (longer, shorter, etc). I can see the benefits of a seamed sweater but I will say a bottom up raglan…I hate attaching the sleeves. It’s just unnecessarily complex.
Is Google available to hire? I’d love to have him model my new slippers!
He’s a big ham and he loves attention. So that’s a yes! š
I’m cautiously considering a larger project this year (only been at it for a year) and I love hearing about your larger projects — blankets and sweaters specifically. There’s so much I don’t know about potential pitfalls, so your insights are fantastic! Based on what you wrote, I’m guessing top-down sweaters are a little more like a thumb on a mitten done cuff-up? Because that I might be able to handle. š
Go try Flax. Right now. lol http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flax
If you’re concerned about committing to a You-sized sweater- make the smallest baby size. There’s a tutorial that goes along with the pattern, but you really don’t need it. The pattern has tons of diagrams, and it really walks you through the whole process.
You’ve done hats, so you can handle ribbing and decreasing, and increasing. You can do this. And if you do the baby size- just think of it as your swatch for a larger size. š
Plus- the trickiest thing is the separation of body and sleeves. And Flax makes it easy. So easy – it seems magical. And it has completely convinced me that anyone can do it.
feeling better by now, I hope! top down, eh? I have yet to go there . . . wondering about it . . .
Much better, yes. The misery is gone! š
I have pretty much becoming a Top-Down advocate, just because of the ease of the sleeves. If I had known the sleeves would be this easy- I’d have knitted a top-down sweater YEARS ago!!!