"Yarn Jacket" for Jackson

I will be teaching a weekly knitting class at a senior center in downtown Los Angeles starting on June 18. One of the projects that the coordinator mentioned that some of the women wanted to do was a boys sweater. They have a "Helping Hands" group that knits sweaters, scarves and hats for charity, but they haven't found a sweater pattern that the little boys have enjoyed receiving.

I found this pattern in a book from the library. I think it's called "Junior Knits." The pattern is the "Max Jacket" a base-ball jacket style cardigan. I haven't made anything for Jackson in ages, so I decided to make one for him in red and brown. He's very excited. Every time he sees me working on it he says "Is that MY yarn jacket? Is it finished yet? Can I wear it? Where is the star? I want a star!" Then Mikey chimes in and asks for his "GREEN yarn jacket." So, I guess I'm making Jackson's to show to the class, and a green one for Mikey to demo in class.

I started the brown/red combo for Jackson on 5/18 using Pattons Classic Wool Merino in Chocolate and Red. Unfortunately the Glendale Michaels and the Burbank Michaels were out of their more brick red color, so the red I got is VERY bright. Jackson loves it though and actually wanted the whole sweater made out of the red color. We'll see how it goes. I have the back and 1 1/2 of the fronts done. Maybe, if I focus, I can get the pieces complete during this long weekend.