"Ladylike Pullover" Complete!

Easter evening I completed the crochet sweater. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. The pattern really wasn't difficult at all even though it was an experienced level pattern. The least common stitch used was a treble crochet, and the open work on the yoke wasn't difficult or confusing at all. The pattern was fun to work, and worked up quickly. I didn't notice any joined areas in the Lionbrand Wool-Ease yarn or any defects in the yarn. I bought an extra skein as always and didn't end up needing it. I ended the project with one and a half skeins leftover to put in my tiny stash.

Here are the pictures!

The arm pattern is the same as the trunk. I have the funnel neck folded down instead of scrunched like the lady in the pattern picture is wearing it. The sweater is quite warm, perfect for slightly chilly spring or fall weather. I made the medium size so it has a "bit" of negative ease, I am hoping that it will keep fitting as I loose weight instead of making a large or extra large and ending up with a tent.

Here is the back (obviously, lol) I think the pattern and color looks rather nice with dark jeans. I decided not to block it as I didn't think it needed it.

This is a picture of the cuff as I was working it. I thought it was neat how you double crocheted alternating stitches around the front dc post and the back dc post. It pulled the stitches to make a rib. I've never seen this done before, but it is a really neat idea that I will no doubt use again.

So now what? I've completed my "Spring Four" but need to wait before buying more yarn. The next four patterns I'd like to make are a tank top for me, a sweater jacket for my husband, and two sock patterns for family members. I may try to buy yarn for one of the pairs of socks after the end of the month, but for now I've got to stick to using yarn I already have. I found a pair of socks I'd been working on for my 6 year old daughter, and I'm working on finishing that currently. I have to go through my yarn and see if I have enough yarn to actually make anything else. We'll see what sort of things I come up with.

I'll post pictures/links to the patterns I will be using once I am closer to actually starting them.

The last of the "Spring Four."

With the crocheted dress complete, I am on to working on the crochet "Ladylike Pullover." As a refresher here is the picture.

I've already started, and it is going quickly. I started on the sweater yesterday and am already up to the double crochet section at the bust. The Lionbrand Wool-Ease is nice to work with and soft. The "Eggplant" color is very pretty and I can't wait until this project is  finished!

Isn't that a gorgeous purple?

Here is a close up of the bottom section of the sweater. This part was fun to work and I really like the zigzag effect that was created.

I don't expect this sweater to take long at all. I can see finishing this within 2 or 3 days depending on how much time I get. I have an idea of what I am going to make next, but for now I'm just going to enjoy working this pattern :)

"Blue Reflections" dress complete!

Obviously I ran into a couple snags, and didn't finish the dress on Friday like planned. First I managed to get a migraine Friday afternoon. That finally lifted by late evening and I wasn't able to find much time to work on the dress. Saturday morning it only took me the first round around the bottom of the dress to realize I was going to run out of yarn. Sure enough, with half of the last round to make I ran out. Thankfully my husband was going to run some errands and was able to pick up another ball of Patons Grace locally for me. I finished the dress by Saturday afternoon, and I am thankful it is finally done.

I am a bit confused why I ended up running out of yarn. Before starting the project my gauge was exact, and I tend to believe that I keep a pretty consistent tension while working. I must have changed my tension somewhere along the line, because it took me two extra balls (I always get one more than recommended, too bad it wasn't enough in this case). I suppose it isn't so bad though, seeing as how I can actually get into the dress. Saying it "fits" is a bit of a stretch, but I can get it on and it's not uncomfortable.

Blocking really didn't seem necessary with this yarn and the way it was worked, but I did it because the pattern said to. If anything it helped the yarn to lie a bit more flat, but not so much as to really be worth blocking. Anyways, I took a picture of my blocking. I am using the play mats that my Mother-in-law gave to me and the remnants of my previous attempt at a blocking board at the top.

I didn't realize the picture was so blurry...

Here is the completed dress. Looks rather nice really.

Just showing the finishing border of two single crochet rows. It is nice and simple looking.

Here is the scalloped edge at the bottom of the dress. I really thought the book tried to make this section too complicated as it wasn't written the clearest.

I did notice a few mistakes in the pattern. They were small though and easily recognized so didn't pose much of a problem. It wasn't the best written pattern I've used, but it was far from being the worst.

A note about the yarn. I was surprised to find a few problems with the yarn given that I ended up paying about $65 for the yarn (on sale!) for the entire dress. The first ball I used I ran into two ties quite early on into the ball. Thankfully those were the only tied spots I came across, but there were a lot more loose pieces of fuzz in the yarn than I thought acceptable. Maybe my expectations were too high, but all the little fuzzes needed picked off while I was trying to work with it. The hand washing and drying flat doesn't have me too excited, but otherwise the yarn was fine. I don't think I would go out of my way to look for another opportunity to work with it again, but I wouldn't avoid it either. It did create a nice dress, and I expect the cotton to be cool for this summer.

Lastly, I decided to go ahead and model the dress, even though I hate pictures of myself and I am sooo uncomfortable in my skin at this weight. So here I am, being brave, lol

A note about the play mats. Using play mats for blocking works really well. The dress was just a little too big to fully fit, but I can see the mats being perfect for blocking something that is an odd shape or that has arms. Being able to arrange them however needed will come in very handy. They store a heck of a lot easier than the huge chunk of plywood with foam board glued to it, lol I am looking forward to using them with the next project, the crocheted pullover.

I've got a head full of knitting worries.

I am nearly done with the crochet dress, then I have a crochet pullover and I'll be finished with my four projects for spring. It must be because I'm nearly done with the "Spring Four" because I've got ideas swimming in my head for what I'm going to make next. I am actually stressing out about trying to pick a group of patterns to knit next...when I'm not even done with the current group.

I've wanted to branch out my sock making for a few years now. I've only made socks with leftover yarns that were worsted weight. Mostly I've used Red Heart Super Saver yarn leftovers from afghans I've made. I want to try my hand at making socks with actual sock yarn, especially the stretchy stuff. I will be making at least two pairs of socks in my next group of projects, I just need to narrow down the patterns to my two favorite, lol That could take awhile...

There is the matter of making a sweater for my husband. I can't get a satisfactory answer out of him when looking at patterns. He thinks the models look weird, and doesn't even seem to see the sweater I'm trying to show him. I may end up just picking something that I like and hoping that he likes it when it's done. There are at least four patterns that I would seriously consider making for him that I have found so far. I will continue to search and hopefully find the "one."

I further complicated my status of "too many projects, too little time" by picking up the Spring/Summer 2011 edition of Vogue Knitting. I only want to knit about 13 of the patterns shown, lol I already have a heap of patterns that I want to make which I've printed out off knitty.com (speaking of which, they just updated their pattern archive so it's much nicer to use now) including a few tanks for summer. Then I have the stack of patterns from LionBrand.com, some of which I would like to make as gifts. Many of the patterns I had selected last year, but never got enough money to actually make the projects in time for Christmas. I will probably try again this year, but it all depends on the cash flow.

Yarn cost is a bit disheartening sometimes. Even knitting with medium to low-end yarns can get expensive. I'm not sure if I'll ever get to knit with a premium yarn because the sticker shock is a little more than I can handle. Maybe I'll be so lucky as to find a phenomenal sale, hey I can dream, right? The Patons Grace I am using for the crochet dress was plenty spendy enough, and it is considered a medium quality yarn AND I got it on sale. It's a good thing knitting is so relaxing and works as my therapy. I could never afford to knit if I had to pay for talk therapy, lol Life is too stressful to not have an outlet. Thankfully I have a husband who understands knitting is my relaxation and peace...if only I could get him to pick a stupid sweater pattern, lol

I am trying to convince myself that I need to wait to pick out new patterns, but I am failing miserably. I keep thinking about what kinds of things I'd like to make while I am working on my current project even. I think I just need to get the "Blue Tangelo Reflection" dress finished and move on to the crochet pullover. Working with a different texture and yarn weight should help put off some of this yearning for new projects. The Patons Grace has been giving me a bit of "yarn burn" on my finger, lol Something softer and thicker would definitely be a nice change.

I should be finished with crocheting the front of the dress by this evening. After I sew the side and shoulder seams I'll need to block it, so I won't be able to do the edging until tomorrow. I am not quite understanding why I didn't attempt to do this dress in the round instead of following the pattern exactly. I guess I never fully trust myself to make too many alterations to a pattern without totally screwing it up. I probably won't be making this pattern again to try it in the round, simply because there are so many patterns I want to make.

I should have pictures to post of the completed dress some time tomorrow.

"Blue Reflection" dress progress.

The crochet dress is progressing more slowly than I anticipated. I do think it is going well so far though. I completed the back of the dress several days ago and am now working on the front.

This is the entire back of the dress.

Here is a close up of the dress to better show the shell pattern. It looks more yellow here because of the lighting. Color is much better in the previous picture.

The shell pattern is easy enough, as is the edge work and reducing for shape. This is definitely not a difficult pattern, it is just slow going. I am not very far on the front of the dress, probably about 7 or 8 inches.

I am making this in a size medium to fit a bust size of 36-38 inches. I have no delusions of this fitting me when I complete it. I am working on my weight-loss, and this dress is a goal for me (one among many). The general idea is that I will be able to squeeze into the dress by late spring and work to get it fitting better throughout summer. Maybe it'll be good motivation, or just super frustrating, guess I'll find out.

I'll post more pictures once I get it finished.

Elenka Complete!

The intention was to upload progress pictures of the Berry colored "Elenka" dress this morning. Anyway that was the plan yesterday. Last night I was so close to finishing the dress...so I stayed up and finished it. I do believe it was around 3:00 am when I finished pinning the dress to my blocking board. Since it is finished, I'll just post the progress pictures and the complete pictures. Yes, there are a ton of pictures, lol

 

This is the skirt, just completed before I started on the bodice. I did more rows than called for in order to get a longer dress.

 

All knitting completed! Now time for sewing the straps and weaving in the ends.

Just a close up of the pre-sewn bodice.

Double crochet edging all done!

Here you can see why blocking is so necessary.

Same here. Very puckered and not very nice looking.

On the rack! It isn't very straight or neat looking, but not so bad for doing this at 3 in the morning!

Here is a close up of the blocked bottom, so much better looking!

Close up of the blocked-bodice. I just wanted to show the daisy stitch.

Now for the pictures I took this morning of the completed dresses.

Here is the "Berry Elenka" all done.

"Lime Elenka" doesn't look that terribly much smaller in this picture, but the size difference becomes very apparent when they are being worn.

My oldest daughter (6) is very excited to finally be able to wear her dress.

My 4-year-old is trying so hard to be pretty that she kept forgetting to smile, this was as much of a smile as I was going to get out of her.

Here you can see what I mean about the length. The largest size in the pattern is for 5t, so I added enough rows that the dress should have came to her knees...guess the blocking threw that out the window, lol. I wasn't expecting it to stretch down so much, but that's okay since she really likes it long anyway. Maybe she will be able to wear it longer before outgrowing it.

Both kids are really happy with their pretty dresses, and I am too.

Umm, slips come in child sizes, right? lol I didn't expect it to be quite so see-through, so will have to find a slip or shorts to go underneath before letting them wear the dresses out of the house.

My unwilling background model was happy when we finally got away from the couch and let him resume his nap. In the picture of the backs of the dresses, you can see him peeking between the girls, lol.

So that's half of my 4 spring projects completed. I will be starting the "Blue Reflection" dress this evening (probably as soon as I click on "Post" lol). I will try to be better about posting progress pictures.