We were walking by the canal today, when the sun came out and I had to take off my jacket to cool off because my Snorri is so very, very warm. "I'm so jealous of your handknitted sweaters", David said, "and I would like to be as warm as you this winter." And so we agreed that I am to knit him a sweater, particularly as we are heading to Scandinavia in the midst of winter and last time that happened, Dave nearly froze to death.

I have all the usual concerns about patterns. Dave doesn’t like any of the usual suspects (Cobblestone or Durrow), doesn’t want any cabling or any colourwork .. but he does grudgingly admit to “not minding” the style of Kerouac while not wanting a cardigan. Furthermore, Kerouac is knitted in sport-weight and I have some rather fetching aran-weight in my stash..

However, the real issue is sizing. I think I’m heading for trouble. I measured David and his chest circumference is a whopping 5” less than IK’s standard size S. He likes his clothes to be fitted rather than slouchy, although he’d want to have a t-shirt underneath his sweater.

Questions: Do I try to play with gauge and go down needle-sizes? Do I try to find children’s patterns and hope the largest boy size will fit my partner? Can I take a woman’s pattern and take out waist-shaping/modify neckline or would I get in trouble with the shoulders?

Any helpful hints or tips either regarding pattern or sizing?

Suggestions regarding feeding him more rice pudding or chocolate will be filed under "David's being silly".