Crochet Cardigan/Sweater Finally Completed!

For those who didn’t believe it would ever happen (mainly me and maybe my sister who it’s for), I finally finished plugging up all those holes in my first ever crochet sweater (coat, cardigan). It’s been three years in the making, and I just couldn’t let another winter go by without finishing it.

What an incredibly stupid thing to do! I can’t believe I actually allowed myself to plug up all those holes. I would definitely not recommend it to anyone. It took so long to do each square and was tiring on my hands. I could barely tolerate doing two squares a day. That’s why it took me so long to finish it. I don’t usually abandon my crochet projects like that. Sure, I get tired of something and don’t want to do it anymore, but that’s a true abandonment. I give up on it with no intention to finish it. I’m ok with that.

This, THIS, was different. I wanted to finish it. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was so easy to just say I would do a few more squares another day, and then ignore it. I would have days of motivation and thought, “This is it! I’m going to finish!” I would do a few squares, think it wasn’t so bad and that I would do a few more the next day and then, you guessed it, nada, zilch, less than zilch.

But then, winter was coming (ok, winter was here), a third winter since I’d started. How could I face my sister again without a finished sweater! How could I let her go cold another winter?! I had to finish!

And I finally did. I had a laser sharp focus and didn’t work on anything else and it finally happened. I wish I could say it was all worth it, but it wasn’t. Halfway through, I thought about just ripping out all the plugs I had already done and just sewing on a fabric lining. I couldn’t bring myself to cut out all that hard work though. When I was done, it looked pretty, but all those plugs make it drape differently. I don’t like it as much as I did before the plugs. Maybe all that work makes me biased against that dumb sweater. Hopefully my sister will like it better than I do.

But alas, it is done and I bid it adieu.

Finished Crochet Habitat Cardigan

I finished the crochet Habitat Cardigan!

Look, my plants aren’t dying yet and better yet, they’re growing! Don’t look at the ones the dog is stomping on. Nothing is safe!

My sis-in-law wanted detail pics.

The sleeve and the cowl is done in the front loop of half double crochet.

The back is done in a sc, dc, combo.

I got to wear it out a few times before it got hot again.

Excuse the terrible light. It made for an awful picture. It messes up the colors but you can see how nice it fits.

First time out, I spilled caramel on it. How did I manage to do that you say? Well, what had happened was…we went to the movies and I snuck in a candy bar that was chocolate on the outside and caramel on the inside. It was long and skinny, and unbeknownst to me, partially melted in my purse. It shouldn’t have been so delicate! I tried to eat it anyway after I suspected it was a little melty and I guess I gave it a little squeeze or something because at some point it dripped on my sweater.

When I got home, I couldn’t find the spot! I guess all that caramelly goodness blended in with the colors really well. I tried finding it by feel but it must have dried. Oh well, it will come out in the wash where ever it is. 🙂

My crochet group liked the sweater so much they’re making it at our meet-ups! So excited to see how theirs turn out.

Freebie Friday – Habitat Cardigan

Habitat Cardigan

That yarn (Red Heart Unforgettable in Tealberry) for the first cami kept calling to me. It’s so pretty, and now that I purchased more to finish the cami, I had extra. I had one full skein and one slightly used skein. I racked my brains about what I could make with it that I would actually wear, when I found a pattern for a nice looking cardigan. It’s the Habitat Cardigan and it looks easy to make. The site has a video and links to the printed pattern. Bonus!

Not my photos. I got them from her site.

My yarn isn’t the one called for so I’m hoping it works, but so far, I like how it looks.

This stitch reminds me of scales and waves. I might use it for another mermaid costume.

I knew I didn’t have enough yarn to finish this project so I hunted down a coupon that was 50% off one item and it was only good for one day! I figured out I needed 8 more skeins. I know, I know, I shouldn’t have started the cardigan with just one full and one partial skein of yarn. I realize it’s a dangerous thing to do. What if Michael’s runs out or the yarn gets discontinued? To add insult to injury, hubby loved how the pattern for my cardigan was working out. At the stage it was in, he said it looked like the kind of scarf he wanted. He said the colors were perfect. Ok, so now I needed enough yarn to make him a

The Crochet Coats – Sweaters So Far

My three sweater coats

This was the first and is my favorite in the ‘looks’ category. I’m still working on this one.

This is the second one and I love the star stitch but I had a few mistakes that were bothering me. This one went to my sister.

Here’s the current one. This one is my favorite in the ‘how it feels’ category but it’s not my favorite to look at. But I do like it a lot overall. I might add pockets and I might, might I say, give this a friend who likes it.

So now I’ve finished three coats but the first of the three is still waiting to be plugged up. As a reminder, I finished that first one ages ago.

It’s the only one that had a hood. It’s the only one I bought special yarn for (and by

New Sleeves for Crochet Bavarian Coat

I know I was supposed to set the unfinished coat aside and contemplate its sleeves at a later time with a clearer head. I was to use that time on other things and come back to it with all kinds of ideas and possibilities. That lasted 24 hours.

I’m trying out star stitches and I’m working both sides simultaneously so I can see the progress and so that I don’t forget what I did from one sleeve to the next. I know, I know, I should be writing it down and I tried. But I’ve written things down before, only to go do the second of whatever I was making and it didn’t turn out the same. I know I wrote it down right! Sooo, I reasoned that if I do them at the same time, there’s more chance of success. I can try on as I go and if it’s not working, I can rip it back before I get too far.

I think I finally found the solution I like. They look good to me so far. Hopefully they will look good all the way to the end.

 

 

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.