Pattern Review: Arzote Top

It's finished! I've been working on this project on and off since July, and I'm finally done. So now you all get to see it!

In my endeavor to learn knitting faster than the average bear, I decided to take on a sweater six months in. Definitely not the craziest crafty thing I've dived into, but a sweater is still a big project. I had some dark green and multicolored yarn that I was itching to use for a garment, and they seemed like the perfect combination for a nice, simple striped sweater (cue Spongebob music).

One problem: I didn't have quite enough. I was short maybe a hundred yards. I would've just gotten another skein, but the yarn was a gift from over a year ago: no way the same dye lot would still be in stock. It seemed like the universe's goal was to thwart my plans! I was going to give up and search for another project, but I came across a lucky find in pattern form: Arzote by Berroco. It seemed like a pretty standard sweater... until you got to the short sleeves. I calculated my yardage and decided that I would indeed have enough yarn to make a striped, short-sleeved sweater.

I double-checked.

Yup, still enough.

As is tradition for first sweater (or almost-sweater) projects, I made my fair share of mistakes. One which I still can quite figure out ended up with me having a dozen mystery stitches on the front half of the shirt, with no evidence of mistaken increases in the fabric. I can only imagine that I missed decreases somewhere, though where exactly still escapes me. Fortunately, blocking hides a multitude of sins, and in my opinion, the top turned out pretty darn well! I blocked it straight onto Mannie Quinn in order to get the fit right.

All in all, it turned out well! I love these two yarns together: the colors work nicely off of one another. And despite my stitch counting mishap, the shirt fits well too! It's deceptively heavy for its size, since the fabric is so thick, but the yarns have lots of cotton and synthetic content in addition to wool, so it's not nearly as hot as it might seem. I'm looking forward to warmer months so that I can really show it off!

As for the pattern, I have a number of observations. Overall, I liked it. The instructions were clear and easy to follow, and it was simple enough for a novice sweater-knitter to understand. I didn't add a pocket because I didn't want it to clash with the stripes, but the original pattern includes a breast pocket that is very cute.

On the negative side of things, I did have a few issues with blocking and fit that I'm fairly certain weren't attributable to error on my part. The first is that there seemed to be a fair amount of extra stitches in the back when doing the ribbing for the collar. This extra ribbing stuck out from the neckline at odd angles and wouldn't lay flat against the back of my neck until I really forced it to with blocking. I'm usually trying to avoid stretched collars in my clothes, so starting out with one isn't that great. The other issue I have is with the shoulder seam construction. The fabric is quite thick, being made of worsted weight yarn, and that really influences the seams. While the side seams aren't that big of a deal, it becomes rather bulky in the shoulder and armpit area, which is a tad uncomfortable. More noticeable from the outside, the thick seams and fabric don't fold and stretch on themselves very much, so the shoulders of the shirt are kind of locked in an arms-down position. When I lifted my arms over my head, the shoulder area pops up to my ears, making the entire shirt ride up. I was using the recommended weight yarn and the correct gauge for this project, so I expect that it's not just my seam job that creates this problem.

All that being said, I still like the top. It's pretty, and it fits well as long as I don't raise my arms too high (and let's be honest, they're usually down at my lap with a craft project anyway). It's got some flaws, but if you're willing to deal with them, you'll get a nice looking product!

With my first sweater-ish project out of the way, I think it's time to set my sights on a new garment! Maybe this time I'll try a full-fledged sweater. In fingering weight. With lace. That won't take a million years to complete, right? Well, I'm going to dive through my pattern books. Until next time, stay crafty!

Wo(ven) is Me

More Christmas gifts this time! I have a lot of those to share. This one was another relatively new craft for me: weaving. I had a bunch of interestingly textured yarns in various shades of blue, so I decided to go for a simple design that let the yarn do all the talking. I used three different types of yarn in my warp: a fuzzy, vibrant blue, a more subdued, knobbly yarn, and a bit of another homespun yarn that varied both in its thickness and its color! I really wanted the stripes of these yarns to be the focal point, so for the weft, I used some very thin cotton yarn, doubled up for strength. It recedes into the background in comparison to the worsted weight/bulky yarns used for the warp, so you hardly notice that it's what's holding the entire scarf together! The construction of the scarf itself was plain weave (I haven't really mastered anything else on rigid heddle yet), again so that the different yarns were the focus. I'm quite pleased with the result!

Of course, this is for the recipient to use however she wants, but I personally think that this scarf would go great with denim. The colors are reminiscent of a medium wash blue jean, and it would be a fun fall style to throw this on with a pair of jeans and a contrasting shirt/sweater! And it really goes to show that if you have interesting yarns, you don't have to do anything super fancy to them to get a nice product. Just give them a chance to shine, and they will!

Diamond in the Rough

Finally! It is finished!

Backstory time: I bought this mill-end cotton weaving thread for dirt cheap on a whim one time while I was at the yarn store. There were a bunch of ratty-looking hanks laid out on a shelf, some a little dirty, all tangled. But it felt nice and I liked the colors, so why not? I managed to get it untangled over the course of a few days, and then I had to figure out what to do with it. What do you do with an entire pound of fine cotton thread?

My mind jumped to lace, as it usually does. Crocheted lace can feel a bit bulky and awkward, but I reasoned that the thread was so fine that it would negate the nature of the craft. And I was looking for a suitable Christmas present for my dear friend, who had gifted me a chemistry-themed sweater for a past birthday. She was the kind of person who might enjoy some fine fillet lacework. I got her approval on a shawl pattern and set to work in mid-October. Sure it was lace, but fillet crochet goes comparatively fast! The pattern was so easy to memorize! Surely I could manage in two and a half months.

I was wrong. So very wrong.

First of all, fillet crochet might be a fast type of lace, but it still goes pretty darn slow when you're using a .75 mm crochet hook! And even though the pattern was easy, it was impossible to concentrate on for more than an hour or two at a time. The stitches were so tiny they cramped my hand and tired my eyes. The shawl didn't get finished by Christmas. It didn't get finished by January or February either. I made progress at a snail's pace.

Then, summer came, and I found myself with an hour's commute by train. An hour where I couldn't really move, but I could very well put a podcast on and use my hands for their favorite task. I was determined to get it done by summer's end.

And now, I can finally say I've done it! It took an estimated 80 hours, and it's 7 months late, but it is done. And forgive me for being egotistical, but it is beautiful!

I mean, look at it! look at that drape, and the way the diamond pattern shows across the back! Is it perfect? Of course not! But let me tell you, a good blocking will hide a multitude of sins. No way I kept my gauge consistent over the course of 10 months, but thanks to water, foam, and straight pins, you'll only see the gauge mistakes if you're really looking for them. And besides, mistakes make the piece unique! They show how much personal effort you've put into a special gift. 

I really think that this project turned out well. It's the largest and finest piece of lace I've made by far, and I hope my friend likes it too. It's currently sitting pretty in a cute box, ready for the next time I see her. 

This has been a really fun project, and I'm excited to do even more lacework. I love the result so much!

... But maybe I'll take a break and try something in a bulky yarn first. 😅

Finished Scarf

Due to a bout of illness, I wasn't able to finish my mom's silver-and-teal scarf for Mother's Day. Fortunately, she's a patient person, and I think she thought it was worth the wait! I'm quite pleased with how the scarf turned out. It has a very shifty, silky feel, and the color seems to change depending on the angle from which the fabric is viewed because of how the two yarn colors lay on each other. It was a completely accidental feature, but a beautiful one! Here, I'll stop talking and you can just see the pictures (modeled by the equally beautiful Mannie Quinn):

An Introduction

I think it's high time that I introduced you all to a very special person. She is my rock, my partner in crime, and a faithful friend at all times. She is... Mannie Quinn!

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Yes, I did name my mannequin. I did name my mannequin a pun. I have no shame.

Mannie is my dress form. She's very useful for sewing dresses and tops, especially since she's adjustable to fit my measurements (or my mom's, or friend's, or anybody who could reasonably wear a size small shirt). Plus, I really don't like to photograph myself, so I'll often dress her up instead of me. I'm honestly surprised it's taken this long for me to introduce her! Anyway, I think you'll be seeing plenty of Mannie around, so let's have one last head(less) shot for the road: