Knitting project - need pattern, advice

I recently picked up the knitting needles after years of them sitting idle and everything's coming back to me :) I started a sweater without a pattern - I'm famous for this since I can never find a pattern for the image I have in my head of what I want. The owner of a yarn shop near me just looked at me like I was crazy! She found a similar pattern for what I'm trying to accomplish in the book - Simply Beautiful Sweaters for Men (although it was out of stock at the time). The pattern is for a Men's zippered vest knit with bulky yarn and all I'd have to do is add the sleeves. Although I've found several free patterns on the web that are similar, I'm not willing to pay $35.00 for this book just to get the one pattern I need.

The sweater I'm trying to knit is a bulky zippered cardigan with a high neck - similar to those sold at Land's End and LL Bean. I'm almost at the point where I am ready to sew the pieces together and form the neckline, which shouldn't be a problem. However, my question is how to add the zipper and what type of zipper to use? All patterns I've looked at give directions simply as: "sew in the zipper" ??? Since I've never used a zipper in any of the sweaters I've knit, any advice or suggestions would be sincerely appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me, Debra