Tag Archives: crochet

And THIS IS WHY YOU SWATCH

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So after finishing my nice vanilla socks, I decided that I wanted to stretch my legs a bit, metaphorically speaking. I posted a while ago about this sweater (shirt? top? Not sure what to call it).

It’s the Calad Shirt by Jenny Tsung and I just think it’s super cute. Is it something that I’ll wear? Maybe. Have I ever actually, successfully crocheted a garment for myself? No. Do I find crochet patterns above “beginner” basically unreadable? Yes.

Is any of that going to stop me? Absolutely not.

Certainly nothing will go wrong.

Anyway, I dug into my stash and found a couple balls of lace-weight yarn that, honestly, I’m probably never going to use. (I had a big “lace” phase maybe 10 years back, but I don’t have the time or attention to make fancy lace shawls anymore. Maybe when the kids go off to college.) I pulled out a surprisingly tiny crochet hook and went ahead and got swatching. And man, I’m glad I did.

Here’s the swatch. Can you spot what went wrong?

That’s right. It’s supposed to be a rectangle. Not a trapezoid.

I honestly don’t know what I did. I definitely lost stitches somewhere along the line, but where? No idea. And maybe my tension changed, too? Who knows. I’m just glad I didn’t jump right in on the sweater before I got my sea legs. It’s definitely going to take a couple tries to get this pattern figured out. Cross your fingers for me!

Have you ever messed up a swatch as badly as mine?

Next Up?

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And now that I’m done with my little cabled sweater, it’s time to move on to… something else.

What else, exactly? I have no idea. It’s been super-hot here in Seattle, which isn’t helping my knitting mojo, either. But I’m always happy to troll around on Ravelry for a little bit and consider my options.

My first thought was that I didn’t want to start anything big, so maybe a little stuffed animal. Maybe this stinking cute little family of bears with a full wardrobe of sweaters? Tsutsu Bear by Cynthia Vallet.

Or maybe I should make myself something light and summery? I’ve had my eye on this tee for a while. I don’t really have any warm-weather sweaters (which really feels like an oxymoron), so maybe it’s time to try out some nice linen or something. I really like how the pattern is pretty flexible and easily adaptable to a variety of bodies. Outline Tee by Jessie Maed Designs.

Or maybe I try something really out of my comfort zone, and try my hand at crochet again? The last time I crocheted a sweater, the results were… questionable. I really like how this top looks, though. But will it look like that on me? I suppose there’s only one way to find out. Calad Shirt by Jessica Tsung.

I’m going to think on it for a while, dig through my stash and see what speaks to me, and maybe make a run to my yarn store. Hopefully something really piques my interest.

What do you knit when you don’t know what to knit?

Inspiration: Over the Garden Wall

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It’s officially fall (at least according to my heart, if not the weather), so it’s time for the annual re-watch of Over the Garden Wall.

Over the Garden Wall is a cartoon miniseries that’s super-weird, and is just wall-to-wall fall vibes. It’s cute and creepy and just makes you want to put on a cozy sweater and drink some hot apple cider on a walk through an overgrown cemetery.

It’s the story of brothers Wirt and Greg, and Beatrice the talking bluebird as they travel through a mysterious wood full of a host of weird and wonderful characters. A riverboat full of frogs that like to dance! A village of pumpkin people! An evil Beast stalking the woods at night! A mysterious woodsman who may or may not be trying to kill the kids! C’mon… what more can you ask for?

Anyway, here’s some patterns:

Look at this gorgeous afghan square! I could see making it into a washcloth or a tea towel, if you’re not up for making a whole blanket.

2019 GAL: Over the Garden Wall by Jacquiline Rivera

This is little Greg’s rock that he carries in his pocket (along with some candy and a frog whose name keeps changing). This little guy is surprisingly show-accurate.

Over the Garden Wall Rock by Mooeyandfriends

And, this isn’t precisely an “Over the Garden Wall” pattern, but I love the variety of these pumpkins. They definitely have the vibe of the show, and if you added little faces, they could totally be made into the folks from Pottsfield.

Pumpkin Parade by Norman Schwarze

Do you have any favorite fall movies or shows?

Should it stay or should it go?

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OK, so.

First, a positive thing: I’ve managed to make a lot of headway on my crochet sweater this week! Something that I haven’t been able to do in… a while. I’ve finished one sleeve and almost finished the second. All that’s left is a few more inches of Right Sleeve, a cuff, and a neck.

Then, a negative thing: I have literally no idea if I like this sweater. Like, at all. Even a little bit. It’s wild. I go back and forth on it hour by hour, minute by minute. One second I think, “Wow! This is a cute, trendy style with a silhouette that I haven’t tried before! I love how it looks! And the bobbles?! So kitschy and cute!” And then literally the next I think “Ugh! Why would I even think that something like this would look good on me? And bobbles? Honestly, what was even going through my head when I picked up my yarn?”

It’s a real rollercoaster up in here.

So, I’m going to let you guys help me decide: Do I like this sweater, or is it immediately going in the Goodwill pile for someone better at clothes than me? Do I need to wear it with something other than jeans? Am I going to have to think about *gasp* fashion? Is it just the wrong size for me? Would I have to re-crochet it to make it fit better?

(Also, posing/taking pictures of myself is wildly difficult, so sorry for the… underwhelming photos.)

I think I’m at least going to have to raise or lower the cuffs- right now they’re somewhere between 3/4-length and full-length, which is not the most flattering on me. Right now I’m leaning toward shorter…

And I’m definitely going to add on the neckband before I make any rash decisions. I feel like that’s going to really change how this sweater sits.

But it really is anybody’s guess if this sweater is going to make it into my sweater rotation.

Keep your fingers crossed, and let me know what you think!

Slow and Steady(ish)

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I know I keep saying “Wow! Crochet is so fast!” And it is. But that’s only when I actually sit down and do it.

Which is why, even though crochet is super fast, compared to knitting, I’ve only gotten… about an inch and a half more put on my sweater since the last time I talked to you about it… weeks ago.

It’s a combination of things. I’ve been super busy with the kids (the big one is being very Four and need lots of help with big feelings, and the little one has decided that 5:00 is a great time to get up in the morning). I’ve got a new project in the works with Knit Picks that I can’t talk to you about… yet. And, when I actually have a little time to myself I’m more likely to sit down and want to scroll on my phone than actually do work (even if it’s fun “work”).

All that’s to say, when I do work on it, this sweater is going quick. I just haven’t been actually working on it. Fingers crossed something will change soon and I’ll get a little more bandwidth to finish it up… I’m so close!

Do you have any projects wasting away in your to-be-knit pile?

New Pattern(s): Stitch Your State!

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It’s new pattern day, but this time it’s a little different.

A few months ago I was approached by Knit Picks to help them with a collaboration with the Craft Yarn Council’s “Great Yarn Challenge” and Warm Up America. They had written the instructions on how to make a “state blanket”, but they needed someone to actually write out the charts.

And you know me. I love a good challenge, so I said “Sure!”

The idea is that you can use the charts to make your favorite states in your favorite style- filled in with intarsia, outlined with stranded knitting, or even embroidered! They’re easily adaptable to knitting or crochet, being a little more/less elaborate.

You’re more than welcome to keep your squares and make your own special blanket (maybe featuring all the places you’ve visited, or where all your cousins are living, or who knows!) But, if you want to participate in the Warm Up America part of the challenge, you can mail your finished squares in, and volunteers will assemble them with squares from all over the country to donate to people in need. What a fantastic idea!

This was a super fun project to help with, and I’m super excited to see what everyone comes up with!

Grab the pattern here!

A tale of two (one) sweater(s)

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I’m of two minds about this sweater. But what’s new?

First, I’m excited about how fast it’s going, which isn’t usually the case at this point in the process. Most of the time when I’m three-quarters of the way in, I’m very frustrated and not seeing much progress. I’m just not used to how fast crochet is. I had a 2-hour Zoom meeting last night, and managed to get through 4 repeats- almost 6 inches of sweater! (I know it doesn’t look like I’m going that fast compared to last week, but that’s mostly because I bought myself a paint-by-number kit that’s taking up most of my attention. I have no regrets.) And, I even like the way the fabric is turning out. I think it’s going to be cute- I love the bobbles (even if they’re a pain to make).

However, I’m real skeptical that this is going to be a cute sweater. It’s just so… rectangular. To be fair, it is a style that I’m not too familiar with (drop shoulder, cropped, oversized sweaters aren’t usually my bag), so maybe this is how it’s supposed to look. Maybe it’ll turn out amazing after I seam it up and put it on, and I’ll never want to take it off. But right now I don’t have a lot of faith in the finished sweater.

Either way, I guess I’ll just keep trucking along and trust the process. I like the finished picture in the pattern- fingers crossed that it turns out that cute!

When’s the last time you were skeptical of a pattern halfway through?

Like the wind!

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I’ve been cruising along with my crocheted sweater, and it’s been fun getting to stretch out of my yarn-crafting comfort zone.

I’ve noticed a few things:

  1. I do not like making bobbles, but I do like how they look. (In fact, I made an executive decision to halve the number of bobbles on each bobble-row. It’s a decision I stand behind.) To be fair, a crocheted bobble is much less of a pain than a knitted bobble. So at least there’s that.
  2. Crochet uses different muscles than knitting. I could knit for hours and hours with no discomfort, but my forearms start talking to me after only a little bit of crochet. I don’t think there’s anything wrong, just my body getting used to something new.
  3. Y’all, I forgot how fast crochet goes! Between kids not sleeping and, you know… general life stuff, I haven’t been getting my usual sit-down-and-do-hand-work-time, and still, I’m almost done with the front of this sweater. It’s amazing how fast it’s going!
  4. Crochet patterns are wild! Or maybe it’s just this one. I’m so used to super-precise knitting patterns where every stitch and increase are accounted for, while this pattern is more of a loose “recipe.” It’s kind of fun to try such a different pattern!

I’m really enjoying this project, and can’t wait to wear the finished project!

Have you tried anything new (or new-ish) lately?

Trying something completely different

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OK. I gave up on the striped sweater. I’m sure I’ll come back to it, but right now, it’s not “sparking joy.” So, into the hibernation pile it goes.

I thought for a while about what I wanted to make next- I wanted something quick (or at least quicker than the striped sweater) and I wanted to use my stashed yarn. I thought maybe a scarf or a hat, but none of my yarn was exciting me, and I couldn’t find a pattern that spoke to me.

But I do have a sweater-quantity of fingering weight yarn that I thrifted from our local craft-supply-resale shop (Seattle Recreative… it’s really amazing, if you’re ever in town). It’s in two lovely shades of blue-gray. I like it, and want to make something with it, but I don’t want to knit a sweater with fingering yarn. In fact, that’s the whole reason I am looking for a new project!

Then it hit me! I don’t want to knit a sweater, but maybe I want to… crochet? It’s been a minute since I pulled out my hooks, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually crocheted a garment (maybe some hats in high school?). I took to Ravelry to look up crochet sweater patterns, and dang! Crochet patterns have gotten cute since I last looked at them!

It was a tough choice, but I settled on The Goldfinch Sweater by Hailey Bailey, a super-cute, boxy, lightly cropped pullover with lots of texture.

I got to work, and within an evening, I already had several inches worked! It’s wild how fast crochet is compared to knitting (especially knitting on tiny needles).

It took me a bit to figure out how to read the crochet pattern- I truly don’t know the last time I crocheted (let alone used a pattern), but I’m figuring it out. It’s actually kind of fun to re-learn a new “language.” I already love the results, and can’t wait to keep going!

Have you tried any “new” crafts lately?

And Something Completely Different

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Well. I’ve put my striped sweater in a time-out for now. Not that it did anything wrong exactly. I’m just grumpy about the whole math/sleeve situation.

I’m also grumpy about the stuffed animal situation.

“What stuffed animal situation?” you ask.

To which I answer, “You must not have a kid living in your house.”

Because my kid (my kids!) have So. Many. Stuffed. Animals.

They don’t even really play with them. (To be fair, one kid is just a little lump who still hasn’t figured out how to use his hands yet, but still.)

There is a big basket of stuffed animals in the living room, two bins of them in Kid 1’s room (in addition to the half-dozen or so that live in his bed), and another bin in Kid 2’s room.

So, in my frustration, I decided to make the biggest basket ever. (Is this a smart decision? No.)

I found a big roll of quarter-inch rope in the shed and a decent amount of leftover Wool of the Andes in my stash and pulled out a crochet hook.

And with a little futzing and a lot of improvising, I’ve got (most) of the bottom of a basket. (Basically, I’m doing a simple (ch1, sc1) around, catching the rope in each single-crochet stitch, and increasing as needed to keep the stitch density more or less even as the rope spirals out. Eventually, I’ll stop increasing, when I start the walls of the basket.)

Unfortunately, it’s growing super-slowly. And if I want this basket to be big enough to contain the horde of stuffies that my kid has been collecting, well… I’ve got a long way to go.

It looks pretty good so far, though!