A Lesson in Discipline: EZ's Green Sweater

I consider myself to be a fairly disciplined person, which to me means that I'm good at sticking with things that I'm not too crazy about doing. This pattern tested my stick-to-it-tive-ness like nothing else I've done as of late. And it was weird because I actually enjoyed the test.

Lucky for me, the first time that I read through the instructions for EZ's Green Sweater it registered something like this: "Knit in the round...something...something...steeks (Should I?)...something...something...pick up stitches for sleeves knit in the round...something...something...sew on buttons." And then I cast on.

I must admit that all the hand stitching got to be a drag by the end of the project, but it is a pretty sweater, and I like the way that it feels when I wear it. I love the Ultra Alpaca and will definitely be using this yarn again in the future.

If you want some more information about my experience with this pattern, I detailed the process on my Ravelry posting ad nauseam. I always appreciate when someone does it for me.

Now, what's next?

Welcome To Target Field!

Now Spring has officially arrived. Outdoor baseball. Back in Minnesota. And back in style.

Saturday afternoon's Gopher baseball game gave Minnesota baseball fans their first glimpse of the Twins' spanking new stadium in downtown Minneapolis, and it couldn't have been better. Well okay, it could have been 72 degrees instead of 50, but I don't think that anyone cared.

Target Field is perfect. They've captured just the right blend of an old ballpark feel with all the modern amenities. The wide open concourses tempt you to keep exploring what's ahead and yet you can always stop for a few minutes to catch up with what's going on on the field. There are even a couple of sections with vintage-type wooden seats to bring you back to your youth--well, if you're old enough, that is.

And the food! In the past, we've always made plans to eat somewhere either before or after a game because the Dome's food was so bad. Yesterday we had a hard time deciding what to try first. (By the way, we went for Juicy Lucy's and Murray's steak sandwiches--and a cold beer, of course, at the Town Ball Tavern and everything was excellent.)

Say what you will about taxpayers having to help build stadiums or about the choice of location, this ballpark is going to be a major attraction in the city of Minneapolis for years to come, and I can't wait to go back. Our tickets for a night game this May with the Tigers are already burning a hole in my pocket. I've heard the lighting is the best around.

Being Minnesotans, we just couldn't quite leave winter behind us though. After enjoying our afternoon at the ballpark, we ended the day watching the championship game of the NCAA regional hockey tournament at the X in St. Paul. We were mostly cheering for St. Cloud, but having been born in Wisconsin and educated at St. Cloud State, I couldn't lose. Turns out the Badgers were more than the Huskies could handle. One more weekend of hockey, and we wait for Opening Day.

Practical Knitting

By the time I went to bed last Thursday night, it was pretty clear that I was not going to have enough yarn to finish my EZ's Green(Red) cardigan. I wasn't short by much, but I was going to be short. What to do? Would there be enough if I shortened both of the sleeves a bit? Should I make the neckline band narrower? I didn't want to panic or make any decisions until I could make a call on Friday morning to see if there might be another skein available with the same dye lot. Besides, I couldn't break my rule: Never rip out any knitting or try to fix mistakes after 10pm. Never.

A quick phone call on Friday confirmed my pessimistic hunch that I was S.O.L. on getting another skein of the exact same yarn. I did order another one though and set the whole works aside for the weekend with my fingers crossed that when the yarn arrived it would be close enough in color to allow me to finish the sweater without too much trouble.

That left me facing a whole weekend without any knitting! I had to find something fast. There were hockey and basketball tournaments all weekend that the guys wanted to watch, so I needed something to keep me busy enough to pretend that I was totally interested. (Actually, I only have to feign interest in college hoops. The hockey part I like.) Then I thought of my bag-'o-cotton-yarn that I kept around for kitchen dishcloths. It had been years since I had dug that old thing out. Perfect.

Some people stick their noses up at wasting precious knitting time making dish rags. What a sad lot. They don't know the thrill of casting on a project and finishing it a couple hours later. They don't know the satisfaction of using every inch of a skein of cheap yarn while creating lovely striped squares to drape across the kitchen sink for everyone to see. They don't know the joy of practical knitting.

Whenever I happen to see cotton yarns on sale, I throw a couple of skeins in the cart to keep on hand for these old reliables. I've been making them ever since I was a kid. I'm sure I've made dozens over the years. I'm also sure that my Mom and my Grandmas probably got sick of getting them, but they never said so.

When I dug through my cotton stash to decide which color to start with, I noticed that I had thrown a new pattern in my bag. It was for the Morning Glory Washcloths. How can you go wrong with a name like that? Like most dishcloth patterns, it's a quick study, and in no time, I was mindlessly knitting away. By Sunday night, I had four done.

Today my new skein of Ultra Alpaca showed up so I can continue on my sweater. The color is so close that I don't think it's going to show any difference at all. See, it pays not to panic--and to always buy an extra skein of yarn! Oh yea, and cheap cotton yarn for dishcloths.

Have Some Sewing with Your Knitting

After spending several evenings of my knitting time sewing down steeks, I'm back to the knitting portion of the program. Whew! I will have to admit that that part of the EZ's Green Sweater pattern kind of sucks. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice on the inside to have all these cleanly finished facings, but eww!, I don't like hand sewing. The trouble is, I've never been an "Oh, that looks good enough" kind of person, so I messed around with it probably a little too much in the name of neatness.

One tip that I've learned from other projects like this is to go ahead and finish the areas that won't require any more work--including sewing in the ends and clipping the yarn, but to leave the yarn and the last few stitches of finishing in the areas of the sweater that aren't quite done so that it can all be tidied up in the end. On this sweater, I left the facings open on the last few stitches towards the live stitches by the neckline and shoulders.

When I picked up the stitches for the sleeve, I followed the recommendation to pick up three of every four stitches and ended up with a couple over the suggested stitch count. I was fine with that. (I guess that I am, on the other hand, an "Oh, that's close enough" person.) I know I won't mind a little longer sleeve.

On the first read, the first round of the gusset directions threw me off for a minute. Is my stitch count correct? Yep. Just read ahead a little for the description for the corner points. If this threw you too, maybe it will help to read Round 1 like this, "K1, ssk, k25, k2tog, k1, slip marker, k1, ssk, knit until 3 sts remain, k2 tog, k1." Doesn't that gusset look nice, though?

I also like the way a real shoulder forms by starting the top of the sleeve decreases twelve rows in from the seam. I'll have to remember that.

Despite all the finishing, which really wasn't as bad as my whining makes it sound, I am really enjoying this project. It's so out of the ordinary, and I'm loving the yarn. I'll have to admit though that I am feeling the itch to go out and get something new. The snow has been melting quickly this week, and every drip off the roof of the house has me dreaming about spring. Those cotton and linen yarns will still be waiting for me after I'm done with my wool.