August 22, 2014
Dear Everyone:
Things don’t always work out the way you think they will.
Take sweaters, for instance.
A year or so ago, I decided to
crochet a sweater for one of our (many)
great-nieces. I had some
yarn, dark turquoise with a “shimmer”, that I had gotten for some
forgotten project and never used.
I had an idea for the sweater, based on some patterns found on
the Internet, plus a shell-pattern, called “primrose”, that I was
particularly fond of. And I
figured a little girl would love the “shimmery” look, as little girls
are prone to do.
So I crocheted the pieces (front, back, sleeves) and joined (stitched
the various pieces together) and finished the sweater and decided it
looked good enough for a little girl to wear, at least for one season.
I mailed it off and a few weeks later, I got an email from the
parents, thanking me for the sweater, complete with a photo of the
great-niece wearing the sweater (at least once) and it actually fit her.
Eureka!
(Of course, by the time winter rolled in, it was probably too small for
her anymore. Such is the way
with children.)
In fact, it went so well that I decided to make a similar sweater for
myself. Bought a whole bunch
of medium-weight yarn, in a lovely lavender, “enlarged” the pattern and
crocheted away, happy as a clam.
Alas, what works for little girls doesn’t always work for ladies of a
certain age and generous proportions.
What I ended up with looked more like a crocheted tent, with
sleeves. And the sleeves
were way too long.
So I put the whole thing away for a while.
But I kept looking for sweater patterns on the Internet.
There are hundreds, even thousands, because the yarn
manufacturers have learned that “free” patterns sell even more yarn than
the booklets that you used to have to buy.
In time I ran across what looked like a possible raglan cardigan
pattern. (“Raglan” means the
front and back are joined directly with the sleeves, with no seam at the
top. “Cardigan” means the
sweater—or jacket—is open in the front, making it much easier to put on
and take off.)
The “free” pattern, however, called for 16 balls of the manufacturer’s
silk-bamboo blend at $7.29 per ball.
Translation: $117
before you even started.
But I still had that lavender sweater that I had only tried to wear
once.
So I pulled all the yarn out, building many, many balls.
The pattern was intended for a lighter weight of yarn, but I was able to
“compromise” by converting the overall number of stitches.
(If the result was another crocheted-tent-with-sleeves I would
not be out any materials, just time.)
And, me being the person in charge of the whole project, I decided to
try a different pattern for the “body” of the sweater, instead of the
“lacy” pattern chosen by the manufacturer.
The result:
I discovered that the single-crochet upper part of the pattern actually
worked out pretty well. But
the “lacy body”, because of all the space between the fans and shells,
tended to pull away from the front.
In fact, if you looked at the model wearing the original pattern
offered by the manufacturer, the lower part of the sweater looked too
small on her, and she was a Size 2 at most.
Score: 2 attempts, 0
wearable sweaters.
So I decided to try a combination of the upper sweater, the “yoke”, and
the “primrose shell” pattern that I had originally used for the sweater
that actually fit the great-niece, at least once.
Unraveled the lavender sweater (again!) and started over
(again!).
On the third try, I had a possibility.
I wasn’t thrilled with the neckline, and the “body” still pulled
too much, but things were definitely looking better.
On the other hand, the lavender yarn was getting a little tired.
So I found some more leftover yarn, this time in a restful grey,
to try again.
Now you know why knit-and-crochet people always keep the leftover yarn
from other projects. As long
as the weight and hook-or-needle-size are the same you can use it for
practice pieces. Or, in this
case, trial-and-error pieces.
As it is, I might actually have a real sweater by next winter.
In the meantime, it keeps my crochet-cravings in check.
Seriously, how many pairs of slippers can one person wear?
Love, as always,
Pete
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