Making the same sweater twice

I’ve never done this before, repeat a sweater pattern. There are so many patterns out there to choose from. So what prompted this repeat?Years ago I knit this sweater.  If it looks slightly out of proportion that is because it went through the wash by accident and it shrunk.  One thing the shrinkage did was make the neckline a better fit, it also made the design stand out a little more. Otherwise, it really doesn’t fit anymore.When knitting shrinks and felts it does so on its’ terms, not mine. When I got back into knitting 15 years ago, the felted bags were all the rage. But if a bag ends up with a different proportion than the original knitting – so be it.  Extra tight armscyes just don’t work.The collar wasn’t in the original pattern, I added it. Which means it was always a little big until the sweater felted.I don’t remember what yarn I used, clearly, it wasn’t superwash wool.So I reknit with Malabrigo yarn, which isn’t superwash either. So no machine washing. To be honest I have no idea how the sweater ended up in the machine. I always hand wash my sweaters. Oh well, life happens.Once again, the collar is a little too big. My excuse this time is that I am leaving for Israel and wanted to finish this quickly, so I rushed through. If I werentravelinging I’d come up with another excuse. There is a reason why I like well designed patterns, someone else does all the math.Years ago I used a similar Malabrigo yarn for a shawl. You can tell I really like this blue-green colorway.More buttons on this version. As I knit the button holes I hadn’t decided yet which buttons I’d use. I have the infamous box of buttons. (it’s more like boxes, but who’s counting!)These are vintage buttons I found at a show. Turns out I have exactly 7 of them.Impressive isn’t it, looks like hand embroidered buttons. Another reason to hand wash the sweater.Won’t remove them for the wash, with large heavy buttons I like to reinforce them with a small button on the back. They don’t match you say? Nope, they don’t, this is call using those mismatched button in a very productive manner.These, which clearly went through the washing machine without a hitch are from JoAnns. Like fabric, buttons come and go. I haven’t seen the like of these in years!