Teal Trouble

Okay, so I dyed the Rebecca yarn teal, and that felt like enough of an adventure, what with too much dye powder and all. How could it get worse?

Well, for starters, I suddenly discovered that I’m not up to creating a garment of this importance without a pattern. And I found this out after crocheting a good-sized section of it. I did, oh, maybe four rounds of double-crochet stitches on the “hem” of the sweater and thenstopped to try it on. It was about four inches too big around. I’d have been swimming in it, if I didn’t run out of yarn before the end.

I scrambled about some and found a crochet book that looked promising. The library had it, I put it on hold, it came in soon, and we’re doing great. (The book, by the way, was Everyday Crochet.) I looked through it and picked a pattern that looked similar to what I was willing to settle for. (So you see, the sweater has already slid from perfect to okay.) I practiced a new chaining method and got to work. Only to find out that I had the wrong gauge. Do I see a pattern of not checking things here?

Then I discovered another, similar pattern that used the number four thickness of yarn, which I thought was worsted weight. Alright, but explain how using a thicker yarn will obtain a similar gauge . . . I was about ready to give it another try when I realized that my lovely yarn was leaving teal streaks on my hand.

Great.

So, now I have to take all the six, nicely-wound balls of yarn and unwind them, turn them into skeins, soak them in water until they’re rinsed, let them dry, and repeat.

After I find a potential pattern.

Again, great.

Anyone have a crochet pattern for a nice, long-sleeved pullover with a decent neckline? One with worsted weight yarn?