Knitting a sweater!

There is a shop in Canada that has beautiful hand knit items and they had a sweater - very similar to this one - for $240.  I love wool sweaters!  They are so warm.  I know that wool has sort-ov gone by the way-side in favor of fleece.  I won't fib - I have fleece jackets in several different colors and they are all worn a lot.  But for warmth, fleece can not even come close to comparing to wool.  I have several very nice wool sweaters and wouldn't mind having some more - I just don't want to pay $240 for one!
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Anyway - I finally found a pattern similar and bought it right away.  I love the neckline because I can get a nice patterned scarf to wear and then I won't have itchy wool anywhere near my skin! Then my friend and I went to the Briggs Little mill in Canada and I bought the wool.  LOTS of beautiful colors to choose from at Briggs, and I really had a hard time selecting just one!  DH says that if this sweater is too big for me he will happily take it!
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I brought the wool and pattern over here with me and over the course of the week - here and there - DH has held the skeins while I wound them all into balls.  Just one skein I did on a swift and ball winder to make a cake before leaving Canada, but then I thought the unwound skeins would pack better in my suitcase.  Here is a little snapshot of 1 ball, 1 cake, the skeins and my knit swatch.  I knit pretty loosely and had to go down in size for the needles.  Always knit your swatch!

You can see what everyone else is knitting this week over on Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times.
*Updated to add:  I did the swatch, changed needles, re-did the swatch, measured twice and it was perfect... and then I cast on one size larger than I meant to.  Ooops!  I ripped it out today and will start again tomorrow - fortunately I found my mistake after just a few inches of knitting.  Geez - my DH almost DID get this sweater afterall, LOL!