Saturday Morning Hoodie

I like to have a few projects going on at once. Socks are great because they are easy to throw in a bag and take along on trips. I also like to have a larger project going on to work on in the evenings when I'm watching hockey (another love of mine).

Back in January Lion Brand Yarns sent me an email telling me about their sweater knit along for the Saturday Morning Hoodie. I had just finished a top-down raglan cardigan using their Wool-Ease Chunky yarn (http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/1194.html?noImages=) and was looking for another cardi to work on, so I decided to give it a go. Here's the link to the pattern: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70084AD.html?noImages=

The pattern is described as an 'easy' pattern, good for beginners. Now, I've been knitting for 5 years now so I consider myself an experienced knitter. I got my yarn (Wool-Ease Chunky) and got started on the back - no problems there. When I got to the left front, I ran into problems. The directions were confusing and as I found out when I checked out the group on http://www.ravelry.com/ they were wrong. It would have been nice for Lion Brand to make sure the directions were correct BEFORE they sent out an email about the KAL. Thankfully the changes to the back of the pattern didn't affect me.

So, armed with new directions I gave the front left another try. STILL CONFUSING! I had to watch another knitter's video about the front and how to do the pockets. If I was a new knitter and didn't know about Ravelry, I would have tossed the whole thing in the trash. After getting everything straightened out, I was able to finish both fronts as well as the hood. Last night I cast on the 200 stitches to do the ribbed edging that goes up the front, around the hood, and down the other side. Hopefully I'll have it finished in about a week (I switch projects from night to night). So far, I like the way it looks but there are definitely some things I'd change.

What, you ask, would I change? First - I would have done this whole pattern as a top-down raglan. I haven't met anyone who likes seaming, especially with thick yarn like this. And this pattern would have worked top-down without any problem. Second - I would have made sure the pattern was correct before starting a KAL with it. Nothing like a welcome to knitting sweaters with an error-filled pattern. And even after they published corrections, the directions for the hood are very unclear. Third - not so crazy about the shape of the hood. It looks like you have kitty ears when you put the hood up but then, honestly, how often will any of us do that?

What did I change? I didn't seam up the pockets like it instructed but instead I closed up the pockets when I was picking up the 200 edging stitches. I figured I'd save myself some seaming work. I haven't decided if I'm going to put buttons on it yet or not. I'll wait until I'm done before I make that decision.

What did I like? I like the way the finished sweater looks. I like that it's available in a wide range of sizes. There have been many times I have found a sweater only to find that the largest size is just a few inches too small for me. I liked learning how to do the pockets, although it would have been easier if the directions were clearer.

So, those are my thoughts on the Saturday Morning Hoodie. All in all, it should be a nice sweater for spring/fall. I'll post some pictures of it when it's all done.