Winter Loot!

TA-DA! I'm finally done with the sweaters! I'm so excited, cannot wait to wear them this winter.

Cotton Candy Waves

I made this last winters. Well the body and sleeves, but wasn't able to sew the seams cause every time I tried the sweater looked really misshapen and boxy. I was quite disappointed, cause I loved the pattern and it wasn't that hard to follow the instructions and make alterations. The original pattern was a cardigan, but I wanted a sweater so I modified. It wasn't rocket science tho, for which I'm thankful. And I really wanted to wear it with this lovely cola colored skirt and black boots. So this time I tried a different technique to sew the sems up and well... it still looks boxy but what the hey, I'm gonna wear it anyways. I made it and I love it.

The aggravating thing about crocheting sweaters is that you have to crochet everything in twos. It drives me nuts cause by the time I'm done doing the front body or one sleeve, I DO NOT want to do it all over again for the back or the other sleeve. I tend to lose all patience and just want the thing to be DONE so I can wear it. I have quite a few front bodies of sweaters all waiting for their backs or sleeves. :P

Sooooooooo... to that effect I hunted and hunted and reasearched like mad to find out a way or pattern that will cut down on the crochet time, I do not have to deal with front/back, fixing sleeves (which is a killer) and the entire thing should FIT. And guess what? Weeeeeeeeeee! I found this brilliant method that allows you to check the fitting AS you crochet.

The Top-Down Raglan style sweater is easy as peasy, you start with the neck and crochet the yoke in either a square or in rounds. The body and sleeves follow the same system and man was it fun. I made the next puppy in 4.5 days flat!! And I checked the fitting as I went. Which doesn't mean that I didn't screw up here and there, one sleeve is tighter than the other, there are a few missed stiches, the body is a tad bitty more tighter than I wanted it be and I fudged the yoke a bit so the top part sits a bitty skewed when I wear it.

But, all in all I'm verra pleased! This was a good exercise and I plan to make and experiment more!