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| the finished piece |
Mainly just for my future self (and of course anyone else who is interested), I’m going to sort of write down the pattern/ process, as well as things I learnt etc. I pretty much used a similar pattern to my last one, because I really liked how that one ended up. Though, I learn quite swiftly that not all yarn is the same.
Despite using many of the identical variables, such as a 4mm hook and acrylic DK yarn, the garment felt very stiff as I was crocheting it. And during the test fittings it appeared quite blocky, as opposed to a more draped feel, which you’d expect from a piece of clothing. I used half double crochet for this one, whereas in the previous, I just used double, but I felt that was a little too stretchy/ hole-y after a few wears. So I thought by using a stitch with a shorter height, it would have more of the look/ feel which I wanted.
The yarn brand was also different, too. I used Women’s Institute Premium Acrylic Yarn, which I felt was quite soft, though is perhaps a little more dense than the Wendy Supreme yarn I used in the last jumper. Perhaps a 5mm hook might have been better suited to this project. I do feel this yarn is of good quality though (I mean come on, I created all the Christmas stuff out of this yarn and there was no issue) and doesn’t appear too stretchy, unlike some acrylic yarns. So I hope I can learn from this and find a way of manipulating it so I can have a better time using it. You live and learn. The more I do, the more info I have to make better stuff.
I think because of the lack of stretch in the yarn, combined with the fact that I carried the yarn colour throughout the project and also using a 4mm hook with a tight tension (I wanted to hide the carried yarn well inside the stitches), I do feel this is why is turned out a little blockier than what I was hoping. Anyway, with wear, the blockiness should likely decrease and soften.
While we’re on yarn weights, I used 597 total grams of yarn for the full garment, plus a little extra for sewing it all together. The sleeves took up 220g of that. I find it’s nice to know all these weights for future reference, I’m not just a numbers nerd!
I also had a yarn running out emergency and I could no longer find the correct dye lot for the black yarn (looked in several Hobbycraft branches with no avail and they don’t offer a dye lot option for ordering online which is pretty annoying), so ended up having to try and find the closest match. Which I feel I did, because to be honest, you can’t really notice the variation in the yarn shades. And that’s coming from me, who sat there creating it for almost 100 hours, so if anyone should notice a tiny colour variation, it would be me!
The sleeves were next, which took a while in themselves, because they were a fair size! And the maths for the decreasing wasn’t especially straightforward. If you can read my scrawls on the above image (click to enlarge), it says the rows which I decreased on (de). It was a bit uneven at the start, because I was making it up as I went along, but then I got into a rhythm with it and decreased every other row for a lot of it. It’s sort of hard if you don’t have an exact end point in mind, regarding height or width, meaning you’re sort of just winging it. But I felt the winging it paid off and I’m extremely happy with how the sleeves turned out.
Then the sleeve ribbing was next- which I attached separately after having finished the sleeves. I did 39 rows of the ribbing in total, but no idea on the measurements, because I didn’t actually measure those! But, it was enough so it could fit round my wrist with a bit of give, should I want to roll my sleeves up at any point whilst wearing it.
And after that, it was attaching the sleeves to the main garment. The body needed to be turned wrong side out, with the sleeves the right side out, then putting the sleeve inside the body and crocheting it together around the top opening. So you’re essentially crocheting both the wrong sides together. Anyway, I’ve likely explained that terribly so just use YouTube tutorials for this bit if you are trying to actually follow what I’m doing here!
Despite using many of the identical variables, such as a 4mm hook and acrylic DK yarn, the garment felt very stiff as I was crocheting it. And during the test fittings it appeared quite blocky, as opposed to a more draped feel, which you’d expect from a piece of clothing. I used half double crochet for this one, whereas in the previous, I just used double, but I felt that was a little too stretchy/ hole-y after a few wears. So I thought by using a stitch with a shorter height, it would have more of the look/ feel which I wanted.
The yarn brand was also different, too. I used Women’s Institute Premium Acrylic Yarn, which I felt was quite soft, though is perhaps a little more dense than the Wendy Supreme yarn I used in the last jumper. Perhaps a 5mm hook might have been better suited to this project. I do feel this yarn is of good quality though (I mean come on, I created all the Christmas stuff out of this yarn and there was no issue) and doesn’t appear too stretchy, unlike some acrylic yarns. So I hope I can learn from this and find a way of manipulating it so I can have a better time using it. You live and learn. The more I do, the more info I have to make better stuff.
I think because of the lack of stretch in the yarn, combined with the fact that I carried the yarn colour throughout the project and also using a 4mm hook with a tight tension (I wanted to hide the carried yarn well inside the stitches), I do feel this is why is turned out a little blockier than what I was hoping. Anyway, with wear, the blockiness should likely decrease and soften.
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| the beginning... |
So, the method:
Starting with the front body panel, I chained 90 to begin with, thinking it would stretch when I added rows into the chain like the previous jumper, but it did not and ended up being 19 inches. I wanted 23in across, to give it the cropped boxy look, so I redid it and ended up chaining 120 stitches (needed it to be multiples of 5, so could get the checkerboard style) to get to the desired 23in. Luckily I had only done a few rows so I didn’t waste too much time redoing it, but nevertheless it was still frustrating.
Once I sorted the above, it was pretty much plain sailing, just following the pattern repeat. I did this for 45 rows (measuring 13.5 inches in height), changing colour every 5 stitches and alternating that every 3 rows. This seemed to take forever though, because the amount of colour changes- it’s safe to say I will not be doing this again! She says, likely already embarking on an equally ambitious make. I began decreasing on the 46th row, leaving 26 stitches in the middle (4.5 inches). I did 9 rows of decreasing on the front (approximately 3 inches).
The total time taken for the front panel was 30 hours. I used 77g of the pink yarn and 81g of the black. The back panel took quicker (19 hours) and I used 75g of the pink, with 81g of the black. So almost the same, but there were less decrease rows on the back panel, so it must have been less dense than the front panel. Interesting to note, well at least for me anyway!
Starting with the front body panel, I chained 90 to begin with, thinking it would stretch when I added rows into the chain like the previous jumper, but it did not and ended up being 19 inches. I wanted 23in across, to give it the cropped boxy look, so I redid it and ended up chaining 120 stitches (needed it to be multiples of 5, so could get the checkerboard style) to get to the desired 23in. Luckily I had only done a few rows so I didn’t waste too much time redoing it, but nevertheless it was still frustrating.
Once I sorted the above, it was pretty much plain sailing, just following the pattern repeat. I did this for 45 rows (measuring 13.5 inches in height), changing colour every 5 stitches and alternating that every 3 rows. This seemed to take forever though, because the amount of colour changes- it’s safe to say I will not be doing this again! She says, likely already embarking on an equally ambitious make. I began decreasing on the 46th row, leaving 26 stitches in the middle (4.5 inches). I did 9 rows of decreasing on the front (approximately 3 inches).
The total time taken for the front panel was 30 hours. I used 77g of the pink yarn and 81g of the black. The back panel took quicker (19 hours) and I used 75g of the pink, with 81g of the black. So almost the same, but there were less decrease rows on the back panel, so it must have been less dense than the front panel. Interesting to note, well at least for me anyway!
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| test fitting, sans sleeves |
For the back, I did 49 ‘normal’ rows, then decreased on row 50 onwards- starting the decrease at stitch 43, so it would line up perfectly with the front panel when it gets to the top- which the opening was 7.5 inches. I think 6 decrease rows on the back might have been better though, which would have enabled it to hang nicer, especially after the neck ribbing was added.
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| neck before ribbing |
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| neck after ribbing |
Once I had created the two panels, I stitched up the shoulders using single crochets and a 3mm hook. I then stitched up the sides, leaving 9 inches for the arm holes. Oh yeah, before this, I added the bottom ribbing on both panels, which again I used a 3mm hook (used this for all the ribbing because I felt it looked a bit neater), also using single crochet back loop only to achieve the rib effect. I did all the ribbing right side facing out. For the cuff ribbing (both sleeves and body panels) I did 12 stitches in height and for the neck ribbing, I used just 5 stitches, because I didn’t want the neck ribbing looking weirdly tall! The total yarn used for ALL the ribbing was 63g.
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| bottom ribbing angle 1 |
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| bottom ribbing angle 2 |
I also had a yarn running out emergency and I could no longer find the correct dye lot for the black yarn (looked in several Hobbycraft branches with no avail and they don’t offer a dye lot option for ordering online which is pretty annoying), so ended up having to try and find the closest match. Which I feel I did, because to be honest, you can’t really notice the variation in the yarn shades. And that’s coming from me, who sat there creating it for almost 100 hours, so if anyone should notice a tiny colour variation, it would be me!
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| the sleeves |
Then the sleeve ribbing was next- which I attached separately after having finished the sleeves. I did 39 rows of the ribbing in total, but no idea on the measurements, because I didn’t actually measure those! But, it was enough so it could fit round my wrist with a bit of give, should I want to roll my sleeves up at any point whilst wearing it.
And after that, it was attaching the sleeves to the main garment. The body needed to be turned wrong side out, with the sleeves the right side out, then putting the sleeve inside the body and crocheting it together around the top opening. So you’re essentially crocheting both the wrong sides together. Anyway, I’ve likely explained that terribly so just use YouTube tutorials for this bit if you are trying to actually follow what I’m doing here!
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| perfect pattern matching |
I must admit I was particularly pleased with the pattern matching on the sleeves especially, as per illustrated in the above image. I was sure to pattern match throughout, because I didn’t want two of the same yarn colour touching, say on the sides for example, or it would have just looked weird. So I was pretty adamant to be careful surrounding this. And my pedantic self paid off. I think the fact that the checkerboard design runs throughout the full piece works really well.
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| before washing- zero shape/ hang |
Finishing the garment was originally a little anticlimactic. Despite loving the design of the piece, I was a little disappointed with how stiff it felt on first fitting (see above image- apologies for my extreme pyjama bottoms and dirty mirror). It didn’t drape well and felt really heavy and thick. I therefore decided to wash it, because that’s what the internet hive mind seemed to suggest! I hand washed it, as I was too scared to put it in the washing machine incase it came undone, though I’m sure it would have been fine. But, after almost 100 hours on the job, it’s not something I wanted to test out, at least not right away. So hand washing it was!
It took forever to dry, because I find it quite difficult to drain/ rinse hand washed stuff for some reason. Maybe I just don’t put enough elbow grease into it or something! It would have helped if it wasn’t 4 degrees outside either and I could have put it in the yard in the sun. But no, it was 4 degrees outside, so I had it hung over the bath for a full day, before transferring it to dry beside a radiator for another 24 hours. So all this extra waiting time to see whether all the work I put into creating this jumper would pay off was pretty excruciating! I was excited to see how it would turn out and whether washing it would make any difference.
It’s safe to say it did!
I love, love, love how it looks. I think the design is super cool and it definitely fills the ‘less plain jumper’ hole in my wardrobe. It still feels a little blocky, but the washing 100% helped with that and if you see me over the next few weeks, I will likely be wearing this jumper!
Right, onto the next project, see you next time xo
It took forever to dry, because I find it quite difficult to drain/ rinse hand washed stuff for some reason. Maybe I just don’t put enough elbow grease into it or something! It would have helped if it wasn’t 4 degrees outside either and I could have put it in the yard in the sun. But no, it was 4 degrees outside, so I had it hung over the bath for a full day, before transferring it to dry beside a radiator for another 24 hours. So all this extra waiting time to see whether all the work I put into creating this jumper would pay off was pretty excruciating! I was excited to see how it would turn out and whether washing it would make any difference.
It’s safe to say it did!
I love, love, love how it looks. I think the design is super cool and it definitely fills the ‘less plain jumper’ hole in my wardrobe. It still feels a little blocky, but the washing 100% helped with that and if you see me over the next few weeks, I will likely be wearing this jumper!
Right, onto the next project, see you next time xo
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