Ms. Redjeans is Finished

Pattern: Mr. Greenjeans, Amy Swenson, Knitty Fall 2007
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay, Flame
Dates: September 2007 to February 2008

I love this pattern, and I love that this yarn finally found a good home. I forget when and where I bought it, but it called my mom’s name and demanded that I make something for her. The problem was deciding what, exactly. My second post ever on this blog focused on plans for this yarn, and I had already had it for awhile at that point. It was a struggle to find a good pattern because my mom doesn’t like to be too warm, so a cozy pullover was out. I started with a vest, but it didn’t turn out. Then I thought Rosedale, but I didn’t have enough yarn. When I saw Mr. Greenjeans I knew it was perfect. Because of the deep V neck it uses less yarn than other cardigans. Because it is knit from the top down I could have just stopped when I ran out of yarn for a cropped look.

As it happens, I decided to buy more yarn and make it a little longer than called for. My mom likes longer sweaters more than cropped ones. Since I bought the yarn more than two years ago, I had been nervous about buying more yarn. But the concept of “dyelots” is rather loose with Manos anyway, and it matched the other skeins to the extent that any of the skeins matched each other at all. I used two balls at once, switching every second row. I think I was successful in avoiding pooling and dyelot stripes.

I modified the pattern slightly, mostly to accommodate the thick-and-thin nature of the yarn. I decided that the cables didn’t look right so I did a garter rib instead. For the button band I decided to go with garter stitch, because I like the look of rustic yarn in garter stitch.  I’m not alone, apparently, and this post inspired me.

This was a very fun and easy project. The only reason it took so long is that I used it as my relaxing “zombie knitting” project. If I had really put my mind to it I could have finished it in a couple of weeks. My goal was to give it to my mom on her birthday in an almost-finished state so I could check the fit and finish it accordingly. It fits very nicely, so I’m glad I did it that way. Best of all, my mom loves it too!

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