Lots has gone on here since I last posted. Much has to do with health issues, both mine and family members. Some has to do with my 96-year-old mother-in-law who is concerned about what will happen when she gets old. Not sure when she expects that to be; I’d think 96 was pretty well into it. Add to this the general insanity of life and work and death and it left little time for blogging.
However, I did want to close a loop here — the famous Rhinebeck sweater that my husband insisted on. DONE!
The sleeves came out too long and are in the process of being reworked, but given the compressed deadline and my former lack of knowledge about cables, I was pretty happy how this turned out.
I would be inclined to knit a scarf with just one column of this cable pattern. I really liked working with it and feel like I’ve done dozens of other cabled projects since then. Conquer your fear of cables — just knit a whole lot of them!
The Wool Merchant's Daughter 
Hello, recently I found your rhineback sweater which is gorgeous!!
I love cables especially if it looks like a challenge. Can you tell me
Where I can find that pattern? Eliza
Eliza, thank you for your kind words! I did eventually shorten the sleeves on that sweater and steek the sides to take it in, so it now fits much better — the pattern ran large! The patter is the Severus Pullover by Josie Mercier and originally was published in the magazine, The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits. That title apparently caused a stir, so everything was reformatted into a softback book called “Knitting Wizardry.” I believe in that, the pattern is now called “Inky.” I chose to only cable the front; the pattern calls for cables front and back. If you are on Ravelry, you can find the Severus Pullover in their database and see how others worked the pattern.