Bavarian Crochet Coat

Dense Bavarian Crochet Coat

I went off and started another crochet coat (sweater, cardigan, I never know how to label it). I’m almost done with it and realized I hadn’t done a single post about it. Well, if you count the post I made about the Bavarian square, then I guess I did post about it (at least the idea of making a sweater from it). And here I am , almost done with it.

The process for this one has been interesting. Here’s what I knew I wanted in a new sweater (coat, cardigan): It needed to be long. It needed to be dense (i.e. no holes to plug up). It needed to be easy. Lastly, it needed to fit! Oh, and feel good too, let’s not forget that.

What I didn’t know was what it was going to look like. Did I want to use granny squares again or just pick a nice stitch I liked? What color or colors was it going to be? How thick did I want it? I had a hundred more questions, but in the end, I really, really wanted to use the Bavarian square. The only thing that was holding me back was that it is a very dense and textured square. I was worried it would look too bulky. However, I threw caution to the wind and I chucked all those negative thoughts and went for it.

How I Started

I went to Joann’s and picked some skeins of grays and blacks.  I began with the back panel. I essentially copied the dimensions of the star stitch sweater. I opted to to make one large square for the back. I grew it until it matched the dimension I needed. I wish I could say I had a clear idea of the color scheme I wanted to use but I just winged it and grabbed whatever color tickled my fancy. I ended up with this!

This square is about 22 inches wide!

 

Next, came the the side panels. I made little squares to off-set the big square.

I had started the project intending to crochet the lower portion directly onto the top portion. But instead, I made more squares, so I had to do some more sewing. I sewed and undid the sewing four different times! I just couldn’t get it to look right, but then, it finally came together after some adjusting and re-adjusting.

This was part of the re-adjusting. 

I had to add a little to the sides of the bottom panel to make everything fit. I tried a few different stitches but stuck with the Tunisian simple stitch because it was a little denser and plus I love Tunisian crochet and incorporate it as often as I can. 🙂

So after everything was all sewn up, I tried it on and loved the feel of it. By far, it feels the best but I’m still not so sure it isn’t too thick and textured. It IS busy…AND bulky. Next time it’s cold, I’m hoping I’ll be happy it’s nice and bulky.

Doesn’t look like much on the hanger but it looks nice when I try it on. It still needs to be edged.

Sometimes I like the huge, big square and sometimes I don’t. Hmmm…

What’s next? The sleeves. I’ve spent many nights working the sleeves, only to tear them out. I’ve started over at least five times and wasted five days. I think I’ve settled on doing the sleeves using the dark gray yarn and the Tunisian simple stitch to match the little patches I did to the bottom panel. Then again, I might start over and try squares for the arms, but I’m not sure. I’m going to finish what I started and see if it works out and if it doesn’t, I can always start over, right? Or give it away to someone who would appreciate it and doesn’t question it’s entire existence.

via Photo Challenge: Dense