What a joy to be able to knit this fun cardigan along with other enthusiastic, creative knitters! Thanks to everyone who is joining and posting. This is going to make the knitting so much more fun!
I've already written several posts about my progress on my
blog and in Ravelry about my Mr. Greenjeans, so I may end up repeating myself quite a bit. I thought I'd post some of the little tidbits I've learned along the way so far. Before I even started on my cardigan, I emailed the designer, Amy Swensen, for some fit details. I had some questions about positive vs. negative ease. Here's what she advised:
Here's what I'd recommend: To wear it closed, I'd go for 1-3 inches of ease. If you're going to wear it open, select a size closest to your actual bust measurement or a little smaller.
Hope this helps!
Amy
I decided to go with the size L. This cardigan has completely reinforced for me how much I love top-down sweaters. I love being able to try this on as I go.
I selected some Cascade 220 in Amethyst Heather from my stash for this project, even though it goes strongly against the "green" connotation in the pattern name. Here's some information about my swatching (cross-posted from my blog):
The swatching for Mr. Greenjeans went in a surprising direction. Usually I have to go at least one needle size up because I tend to be a bit of "tense" knitter. I swatched with size 9's, and it was WAY too loose. Size 8's gave me gauge...until I washed it. I couldn't believe how much that Cascade 220 relaxed with washing. It went from 4.5 stitches per inch to 4 stitches per inch. I swatched again with size 7's, and the gauge went from 5 stitches per inch to 4.5 stitches per inch with washing. Even the row gauge was right on! Wow, I can't believe what a difference washing/blocking makes.
I've been working on the cable and rib section for a couple of days now, and I've been doing the cables without a cable needle. This is the first time I've ever tried this technique, and I really love it. Amy gives really clear instructions on how to do it in the pattern, so if you've ever been tempted to try it, now is the perfect time!
I can't wait to see how everyone's sweater progresses! Good luck and happy knitting!
Today, I made up a gauge swatch for the yarn I'm going to use for my daughter in law, Tamra's, Mr. Greenjeans sweater. She doesn't like to spend a lot of time on hand washing knits so I chose a machine washable yarn called Olympic from New York Yarns. It is 70% acrylic and 30% wool. Even though it was quite inexpensive ($3.50 a skein from Knitting Warehouse) it is very nice. It is soft but not too soft and I got the correct gauge of 4.5 sts per inch with a size 8 (American) needle. 
It is a single ply yarn and has a nice loft to it and the color is nice - very dimensional with lots of color interplay rather than one flat color. Hopefully, Tamra will like this color - it is kind of an army drab green but is very pleasing in person and she likes colors like this.
