Flames are done and the tree is up

We got our Christmas tree on Monday! It was muddy and cold but I loved getting the tree. This is our first Christmas in our own home and that is really exciting. We have big windows in the front of our house and the tree is going in front of them so we had to find a tree that looked good from all sides. This year, there is no wall to put the "ugly side" against. We found a really good tree and Mike cut it down. After all his hard work, I thought he deserved nothing less than a nice, warm sweater. Before I show you the sweater, though, here's a cute dog shot. This is Bradley supervising the placement of the tree on the roof rack. Here is it! I thought I would never finish, but I did and Mike loves it (as he should). The tree only has light on it because I was getting tired but I wanted to finish the sweater so we didn't decorate the tree. Hopefully it'll get some ornaments on it tonight. I don't think Mike will usually wear a nice collared shirt under this sweater (they don't quite go together) but I made him try it on over his work clothes. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Jesse's Flames from Stitch 'N Bitch Nation
Yarn: Lions Brand Wool-ease. Not my favorite yarn but the sweater is soft and arm and Mike likes it. What more do I need?
Changes I made: A lot. My guage was really different than the pattern. Luckily I like math so it all worked out. I made it a little longer because Mike wanted it that way and left out the red stripes around the cuffs and neckband because, again, Mike wanted it that way. He really wanted the yellow edging around the flames that the sweater had but when I started duplicate stitching it on, we both agreed that it looked really sloppy. It wasnt my fault (really!), it's just that the yellow didn't cover the black very well so it didn't look crisp and nice at all. Looking closely at the picture in the book, you can tell it looks kind of sloppy there, too. That's not a good sign. Mike was disappointed about not having the yellow but I think he's over it now. If you're thinking of making this, I recommend knitting the yellow in intarsia even though it's only one stitch wide. You'll appreciate it when it's done.
What I learned: How to do intarsia! And that it's not hard! Although I think that more colors would challenge my coordination. I also have come to the conclusion that neckbands suck. I have never knitted one right the first time and this was no exception. Maybe someday I'll get one right on the first try. I also learned that knitting something as complicated as a sweater for a man is really interesting. I loved knitting for Mike but the next thing he's getting is a smaller project.