I had a post earlier, but accidentally deleted it… ah well, I will try again!
In my short crafting life I have made three crocheted sweaters… ok, three crocheted shrugs/boleros. They were all made pre blog, and every one of them was a bit of a fiasco, considering that I didn’t want to swatch for fear I wouldn’t have gauge (better to make an entire sweater too small, yes?) and considering that I had no clue about sweater construction, so I had difficulty following the directions. I also had no good idea how to sub yarns, resulting in one made of simply soft, one of Patons Brilliant, and one of some no-name Bernat baby yarn in an awful lavender.
Since then I have knit a lot of sweaters, but my tally of successful crocheted sweaters remains at zero. I’m determined to change that, and I have moved these two sweaters (all from the Crochet Me book) up in my queue.
The first sweater will be first. It calls for Blue Sky alpaca silk, which I am totally allergic to (unfortunately, because it is a gorgeous yarn!) so I’m subbing some Baby Cashmerino, which I may or may not have bought 2 colors of from Little Knits this week, where it is on sale for half price. I don’t care for the other cashmerino yarns (hello pills!) but I think baby cashmerino is a great yarn. The tank is crocheted in SWTC Bamboo, which could be nice, and the smallest size only calls for 3 balls. It’s in tunisian crochet, which I’ve never done, but I love a challenge!
Other crocheted sweaters that now live in my ravelry queue…
Joy (gee, way to reuse names) from Rowan 41. I got a great deal on some Rowan 4-ply cotton in Aegean from the ravelry destash board. I’m not in love with many of Rowan’s colors (too muddy) but I love this one!
Sanctuary Bolero, from the new book Sensual Crochet. I’m hoping to sub some Silky Wool in a nearly identical color (yay for stashbusting!) I know I haven’t gotten around to reviewing it yet, but take my word – this book is fab, with only a few missteps. Below are some other sweaters from the book in my queue.
And finally, today’s swatching adventure. This is Bernat Soy in the color Celery, swatching at 4 sc/in on a size H hook. In the knitted swatch below I am getting 5 st/in. This is a really nice yarn with a soft, silky feel. It’s 50% soy, 50% acrylic. I would compare it most to the feel of the many cotton/tencel blends on the market, such as Knitpicks shine and Cascade Pima tencel. The color palette is currently limited to pastels and neutrals, but they are lovely colors – clear and without the muddiness I find in, for instance, the Rowan pastels. I was actually at the store searching for some Cotton Ease, but I was forced to remember that I hate the dreadful chalky colors it comes in now. Fortunately, the pain was mitigated by finding this lovely yarn on sale!
I was swatching for Short and Sweet from The Happy Hooker, but I’m not sure this yarn is appropriate. I have made this sweater once before – it is one of the failed sweaters I mentioned above. I used Caron Simply soft, which fuzzed up horribly and just was not crisp enough for the sweater. This yarn is very drapey, and I feel it would be more appropriate for something knitted. But I’m not sure… I do really like this yarn, and I love the color. I think it will make a nice fitted camisole – I will have to keep my eye out for a pattern!
Finally, Laura at Cosmicpluto knits has chosen me for this:
“Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.”
I am so honored – she designed one of my favorite sweaters (Thermal) and I always love reading her blog!
I read so many great blogs (my bloglines go on forever!) that it’s hard to choose, but here are 10 in no particular order.
2. Yarn Crawl
3. Yarnhog
4. Much Adored
5. Musta Villa
7. Knitting RN
9. Crimson Purl
There are so many others I love – I had to leave so many great blogs out – yarny bloggers are amazing! And if you haven’t been to any of these sites, check them out – tell them I sent you!
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 