Third Time Is a Charm

I finished my red sweater. Seriously, I did. I have pictorial evidence. And it only took a year and a half to complete.

I nearly finished it maybe October 2009, but ripped it back because I forgot some important decreases, and ended up having to redo the entire yoke and sleeves, but only after about a year sabbatical. Then finished it again two weeks ago, following the pattern exactly and including the extra decreases I needed for fitting. Then when I tried it on one last time I discovered the armpits were way too much up in my armpits. Not surprisingly, the pattern as written didn’t suit/fit me. Plus I hated the front neckline.

So I ripped out 12 rows, and did it again according to what I thought would fit my shoulders. I added a keyhole to the neckline which sort of echoes the original cardigan pattern. Then I added three more rows than it called for, because I thought it needed it. Then I added a last border to the top. So now, with all the changes I made to the pattern, it doesn’t look a whole lot like the original.

My review of this whole process:

Pattern: I like this pattern, and in fact would make it again. I like the yoke in particular, and think I could make different versions of this pattern without too much trouble but am sort of interested in the top-down version. Changes to the pattern were:

• pullover instead of cardigan (good plan)
• different stitch (treble-single-single) – good plan, I hate popcorn stitch.
• changed, or rather added body shaping in the waist and bust areas
• completely changed the decreases in the yoke and added another 3 rows
• keyhole neckline with button

For a refresher, this was the original pattern (a lot like this top-down version but constructed differently).

Yarn: Not too bad. As I said when I started, I didn’t want to use expensive yarn since I’m so new at clothes-making. But this stuff (Caron Simply Soft) worked out fine, and it used up all the extra yarn I had from the flower blanket I made. I think I prefer it as blanket yarn because I’ve discovered I prefer sweaters to be made of thinner yarn than worsted. Still, it’s soft and washable, so I don’t have any complaints. Sweater’s really warm!

Fit: I struggled a lot with the fit of this sweater, since I am, uh, overly curvy and patterns don’t account for that. In the end I think I did it all correctly. In fact, it turned out better than I hoped, although I would do most of the decreases using a different, tidier technique if I did it again. You can see some of what I mean in the pictures of the back, above, although the bumps disappeared after washing. You can also see the many decrease markers spaced across the entire top for the yoke. I must have counted the number of stitches in that neckline 20 times to get it perfectly (and I mean perfectly) even.

The main problem, though, is that I made this sweater to fit the me-of-a-year-or-more-ago, and even then it had ease. Since the current me is smaller it doesn’t really fit anymore, especially after washing, because the yarn and tension relaxed. Sadly, there is bagging if I move around, which can’t be fixed without ripping the whole thing again (not happening). What I’m going to do is encourage it to shrink. It’s going in the dryer.

Mostly, thank pete that it’s done. I feel like it’s a weight off my conscience at this point! And not too bad an effort for a second sweater. This one fits much better than the first one I made!

Previous posts mentioning this sweater: Trying Again, or Stubborness | An Awareness of Time Passing | Unending Rows | A Problem of Fit | Is She Looking At Me Accusingly?

Unending Rows

So … This was the red sweater I started last June. The one where I was struggling with the fit.

The one that I naively believed I would finish it before it got cold. HAHAHAHA. Yeah that’s funny.

This picture is from a week ago.  Somewhere around this point you start working on finishing it, at least that’s what you think. And that’s all nice and everything, and of course I figured my sweater’s a bit different because it’s a pullover instead of a cardigan. Except a few days later I figured out there’s really still a lot more work to do. Neverending.

I’m pretty convinced I’m going to spend at least 30 hours on this sweater, only to discover when it’s done it won’t even come close to fitting. *sob* At which point I may give up crocheting clothing for myself.

In the meantime, I’m getting to watch plenty of Doctor Who while I stitch.

Sweaters in the Queue

Continuing with the theme idea, Tuesdays I’ve entitled In the Queue.  These are all projects I’ve wanted to do, but have never gotten around to doing, or perhaps at the time didn’t have the skills to complete. I have many, many, many of these. Some of them are other people’s designs, some of them are my designs but they all rest sort of tidily somewhere, awaiting my attention.  Today I have two sweaters for you that I’ve always wanted to crochet. Since I just began crocheting wearable items, these have waited until I could figure out the whole fitting thing a little bit better.

Floral Fantasy Pullover

The first one is the Floral Fantasy sweater I saw quite a while ago on the Lion Brand website when I was first looking at more complicated patterns. I really love the lace floral design, and I’m fond of the color. It looks lovely for winter.

This example was crocheted in a yarn (now discontinued) called Romance. I wouldn’t have been able to use it anyway, because it’s a bulky mohair blend. I don’t care much about the fuzziness of the sweater, so I just needed to find a suitable bulky, same-color replacement.

I found replacement yarn in San Francisco in August (remember me in that yarn shop? That’s what I got there) that’s just this color. I love periwinkle. I think it will be a beautiful substitution. It’s hand-painted yarn, so the color is a bit varied, and it has great drape. I’d show it to you, but in this packed-up mess?  Who knows where it might be.

Boho Blocks Cardigan

The other sweater is the Boho Blocks Cardigan, originally published in Interweave Crochet, Fall 2006.  I guess I like things I’d describe as “updated hippie” like this. I’m mostly opposed to the term Boho (can we not spell out bohemian? Must we always reference SoHo?). I mean, it is made of conjoined grannysquares, right? But in a nice, non acrylic-fuzzy-blanket way.

I like the heavy-looking drape on this sweater. I think I’d stick to two colors, though. The difference between chunky afghan squares and nice drapey squares is the yarn choice.  The pattern uses a laceweight yarn of blended silk, which makes all the diference.

The yarn is  Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace yarn in mother lode, Douglas fir and camouflage. Since it’s a  wool yarn I won’t be able to use it, but I think another laceweight silk blend would work fine. Maybe a nice alpaca/silk like “Silky Alpaca Lace” from Classic Elite? I’ve heard alpaca is good for allergy-stricken folks. Maybe bamboo/silk? I don’t know yet. It’s not like I’m starting this project next week.

So those are the two projects that have been in my queue the longest. I do intend to make them one day. When there’s time. Which I have to find more of.