Knit Frustration

I gave my daughter yarn for Christmas (Cascade 220 superwash in a nice green) and let her pick out a pattern she wanted me to knit for her. So far, so good. She selected a pattern called "Umberta" from the Ulta Alpaca #279 booklet I had recently picked up (see photo above). Still, so far so good.

I knit a swatch and cast on on Christmas day. In a few days, I had finished knitting the top front portion and at that point, I did not like how it appears to be assembled. Not so good now! Because of the twist in the front, one half will show the "front" in stockinette stich and the other will show the "back" or wrong side. It sure doesn’t look this way in the photo above, the sweater is a bit in the shadows, though. Now, I'm suspicious they did this on purpose so you wouldn't see how it really looks!

I didn’t work on this project for about two weeks, fussing over what I noted above. I posted for help on Ravelry and had someone confirm my diagnosis and suggest I could knit the top front all in garter stitch (so it would match on both sides). Finally, I took my project to my LYS to get advice. There was a group of experienced knitters there that day and they all puzzled over the construction with me and came to the decision that I was correct...one side will show the "wrong" side and one side will show the "right" side of the knitting once it's twisted. We all agreed we were a bit uncomfortable with this given our comfort with having sweaters look symmetrical.

I wrote a couple of fellow Ravelers who had completed the sweater and asked them about the assembly. It seems everyone struggles with the twist and sewing the two parts of the front together. But I decided to press forward, trying to have faith it will all work out. I'd hate to frog the whole thing and start over, but I am also concerned that the entire project may be too large for my daughter. So, send me positive knitting thoughts, I need them.