I just posted a picture of the Green Monster on Ravelry. It is one of those projects that you wish you never started and that you were so relieved to have it done. Here is its story.
My mother died in November of 1995. She was an avid knitter and always had a project on her needles. When she died, she was in the process of starting a sweater for my sister's best friend. Tess had always wanted a fisherman knit pattern and my mother told her to go buy some yarn and she would make her one. So, on my mother's needles was a fisherman knit sweater being made out of a dark bluish-green mohair-like acrylic yarn which I later found out was called Kitten. Only the ribbing and about 4-5 inches of the back had been done.
My sister came to me and asked me if I would be willing to finish the sweater for Tess without taking out any of the work that my mother had done. I took a look at it and the pattern didn't seem too hard. It had bobbles in it, which I had never done before, but I figured that they couldn't be that hard. So it begins.
The yarn was awful! It was dark, which made the pattern not show up and made it difficult to knit at any time except daylight. It was fuzzy and split all the time. On top of this, I couldn't find the pattern anywhere. But, I started knitting, and worked up about 3 inches, only to find out that I was doing the seed stitch incorrectly. So I ripped out my work and started again. My mother had completed at least on full turn of each of the cable patterns on the sweater so I was able to follow them fine.
I worked the pattern up to about where I felt the armholes should go and stopped. Now, I am a person who needs a pattern to follow. I don't feel comfortable doing it without one. So, worked stopped at this point and nothing was done on it for quite a while. I didn't know if the pattern called for drop shoulders, raglans or set in sleeves and I didn't want to make a mistake.
One day, I was cleaning out my grandmothers cellar and came across a bag with knitting needles sticking out of it. I put the bag aside to look at later. When I finally got around to it, there were needles, some yarn and a bunch of Avon fliers (my mother sold Avon also). I was about to put all the fliers in the trash when I noticed that under the fliers was a pattern book. Low and behold, it was THE pattern book! I had found it. At that point I realized the sweater was a cardigan. So I continued to work on the sweater whenever I felt inclined. (You must know at the time of finding the pattern it was now 2002.) I continued it little by little. And it grew slowly.
In 2005, I realized that I really that it had been 10 years since my mother's death and the sweater had turned into this green monster lurking under my bed, just waiting to nag me about finishing it. So, 2005 turned into 2006 and I vowed I would finish it this year.
I progressed on it slowly, taking it to my spinning group on Thursdays and to a spinning retreat in July and even to a knitting weekend in August. I was narrowing in on the final days. It was October, and I had put the sweater together and was working on the last edging for the button holes and then only the collar would be left. As I was knitting, I realized the ball I was working on was getting small, so I got into the bag for another one. Unfortunately, it was with last ball and there wasn't enough yarn left to finish.
So, it is off to the Yardgoods Center where I was sure my mother had purchased the yarn. I showed the owner the ball I had left and she identified it as Kitten, something that was made about 10 years ago and was no longer available. So, my husband and I searched the store over for something to match. Nothing. The fuzziness and the strange blue-green shade was unique.
I also went to Water Street Yarns and tried. The best match was with a ball of the multifaceted Kureyon by Noro. I found a ball which had the exact shade in its multicolored repertoire. But, Kitten was acrylic and Noro was wool. Tough, she was just going to have to handwash the sweater. I took out the edging, and worked it up with the Noro and finished the collar. Next came some buttons, and it was finished, December 2006. I gave it too her just before Christmas.
I am so glad the Green Monster is gone. I am glad that she had the sweater, which she loves! I can sleep again.
