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.

Progress on Crochet Sweaters

Now that the frenzy of Christmas is over, I can go back to finishing my projects languishing in craft bags all over my house. My number one priority at home is to finish my two sweaters. I profess that I will not start anything new until I’m done with at least one. I proclaim that I will wear one of those sweaters before winter ends. (Don’t hold me to any of that!!!)

My granny square sweater will NOT be worn this winter. Those plugs are taking for ever!!! I get discouraged more quickly so it gets put down more often. Instead, I’m working on a new sweater that actually has a chance of seeing the light of a cold day.

I’m working this new sweater in a beautiful star stitch with alternating and complementary colors from my yarn stash (I didn’t want to buy anymore yarn). As usual, I jumped in head first, armed with an idea and a plan. I arranged my colors and got to work. I thought I knew what I was doing. I’ve done the star stitch a million times (it’s one of my favorite stitches). I went for it measuring along my body and deciding lengths and widths that way.

As I was crocheting along, after row upon row of star stitches, I noticed a slight lean to my garment. I was supposed to be getting rectangular panels that I would sew together later but I was getting a parallelogram instead! When I first noticed the lean, I didn’t believe it. I convinced myself it was my imagination so I kept working. By the time I noticed it again, it was too late!

Those are some shifty rows there.

Sweater Progress

I have a whole week off from work for Thanksgiving and I was ruminating about my granny square sweater and its million and one plugs hanging around in my craft bag. With all this time off, I thought I should really get cracking on that and try to fill in some holes. But then…I had a new thought. Perhaps I could just start a new sweater. I would probably finish it sooner than plugging away at my old sweater.

Visions of stitches I could use and color patterns I could configure danced in my head. Enticing pictures from the web flitted across my screen screaming that they wouldn’t take long at all to make. I was tempted, I still am, but no, I couldn’t abandon my granny square sweater. I needed to tend to that first. So, I finished 10 squares in one day! Unfortunately that meant I spent most of my day sitting but I felt very accomplished even though my bones were very creaky with atrophy.

Don’t know if I will convince myself to pick it up again today. Starting a new sweater still sounds tempting. This photo keeps calling to me.

Pattern

I’m looking at it as a template. The star stitch and colors are buzzing in my head. I like the idea of the horizontal section at the bottom  with the vertical stripes at the top. I’m thinking the start stitch would look really nice with alternating colors. The star stitch would make a very thick and warm coat. No holes to plug! Might be too thick though. I would need a yarn that wasn’t too thick. And that is what’s stopping me from starting a new sweater. I would need to buy more yarn. I have so much yarn in my craft room but not enough of any one kind to finish a sweater.

Then again, I could challenge myself to come up with something that could incorporate what I have into a pleasant design. Hmmm…this needs some more thought…

Meanwhile, back to plugging.

Plugging Gaps

Been working on plugging up those holes in my sweater. I dread doing it. I get home so tired from work that I  look at my bag with the sweater peaking out of it and all I can think is that I’ll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is so elusive. It never comes. Then one day I feel inspired. I grab and start plugging away. Yay! I finished a square. Now just 74 more to go! Yeah, then I ignore it again but at least now I have six squares finished. There are moments I think of undoing the plugs I already did and just leaving the sweater as is or finding a different way of lining it. But, alas, I like the purple splash of color. It’s taking so long to complete but I’m actually loving the result. Sooooo, I will plug away until it’s done, even if I won’t be wearing it until next winter.

In case anyone was wondering why I’m being such a whiner, here are some of the plugs I’ve made so far.

 

 

Does it look like a massive blob of yarn? Yeah, to me too. That’s why I keep ignoring it.

 

I’ve bundled them in groups of 8 to convince myself to grab a bundle and finish one square. It works sometimes. 🙂

I give myself credit for making and bundling all those plugs. I take that same credit away since now I have an overwhelming pile that’s being ignored (mostly :-)). And that’s not even all of them! I need to make more.

But here’s how it’s turning out. I am insane for doing this but it will be well worth it in the end.

Yes, those cascading squares on the side haven’t been plugged yet. There are so many!

The Finished Sweater (Sort of)

The sweater is done and ready for its debut…in the Winter. I would say Fall but our Autumns are still warm. Now I can finally say I made the sweater I’ve been wanting to make for years. It’s my first attempt so I’m not surprised it could have been better.

Shows the sweater with the edging.

Close to finishing the crochet sweater

 

Front View

I hadn’t planned on finishing the crochet sweater any time soon. I was going to take my time sewing the squares, finishing the edging, and possibly plugging the holes. But…I couldn’t help myself! I started sewing and couldn’t stop. Then I had the bright idea that the sleeves had to be longer so I made more squares. Then I knew the sweater had to be longer so I made some more squares. Then I sewed and sewed. I un-sewed a few times when I noticed some mistakes I couldn’t live with. Then I sewed some more. Did I ever mention I can become obsessive about my crochet? When I had the hood, the body and one sleeve put together, I tried it on. Eck! The sleeves were too long! Luckily, I hadn’t woven in the ends to all the squares so most were easily taken off but there was one, one that I did weave in and accidentally cut the corner of the square. I was able to save it rather than replace it since it was a square that had already been solidly added to the sweater. I also saw that I didn’t really need to add more squares to the length of the thing but it didn’t hurt either so I just left it.

Granny Square Mania Turned Purse

A child’s imagination is truly great and I get to experience it on a daily basis.

At home, I have been furiously and single-mindedly making granny squares (springtime flower granny square) for my future sweater/cardigan. I’ve tried as many color combinations as could with just grey and black and I’m almost half done with the 74 squares I need for the finished piece. I wanted to try the same square at work but with the brighter colors we have.

I used two strands of yarn and started playing with colors. The kids became instantly curious and peppered me with the usual questions. What is it? What are you making? Is it going in the prize box? Can I have it? This is always followed by suggestions. Use this color. Make it this or that. You should really give it to me. That kind of thing. 🙂

The squares work up quickly so I was able to make a few in a short time. Once done, the kids needed to know what my intentions were because they were pretty sure they wanted whatever it was I was making. I told them the squares hadn’t spoken to me yet on what they wanted to become (they didn’t even look at me strangely after I said that! lol). I had three different squares completed and they were voting on which ones they liked best.