Tag: diy sweater

Sweater Weather

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Well, okay, it’s not the same as sweater weather anywhere else. Which is why my new sweater is an open-weave crocheted sweater made in a sport weight cotton yarn.

A woman wears a green crocheted sweater and blue camouflage leggings standing in front of a green and white wave painting on a white wall.

The pattern is The Betty Boyfriend Sweater by Natalia McHayle (@taliacrochetcreations on Instagram) and the yarn is Cotton Pure in Linden Green from Purl Soho.

Back view of a woman wearing a green crocheted sweater and blue camouflage leggings standing in front of a green and white wave painting on a white wall.

The pattern is super easy and quick to work up. I finished it within four days, including sewing seams and adding the ribbing. Somewhere along the sleeves I accidentally added 10 rounds, which worked out nicely because I like my sleeves to end either above my wrist or in the middle of my hand.

Close up of the side seam detail of a green crochet sweater near the bottom edge ribbing.

The sweater is made in two flat panels that are then seamed up the sides and at the shoulders. You add the sleeves working back and forth in the round, which I totally missed the first time through. It’s not only written in the notes, but the joins are written in the instructions, too. I just happened to miss it both places until I was at the end of the first sleeve and realized there was no instruction telling me to seam it. I have a habit of messing up the first time through on a sleeve, though. Really would like to break that habit, honestly.

Close up of the neck ribbing detail of a green crocheted sweater

You add the ribbing on the sleeves, neckline, and bottom edge perpendicular to the edge and seam it when you get back to the beginning.

Close up of the shoulder seam detail on a green crocheted sweater.

The yarn is a dream to work with, too. I had a full ball left and ended up making a bag and a belt from it. My hands don’t really get fatigued when working with cotton yarns like some people do, but this one is very soft and shouldn’t give you too much problem if yours do. It’s even machine washable. These pictures are straight out of the dryer. It is so nice against the skin when wearing the sweater, too. I couldn’t wait to wear it today to take these pictures, and am planning to actually wear it again tomorrow. More detail available on my Ravelry project page.

Test Knitting The Snuggle Bug Sweater

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Recently, Claire Jackson (aka Perfectly Knotted) released her Snuggle Bug Sweater pattern and I had the pleasure of being one of the test knitters before the release. I had trouble getting gauge with the namesake Snuggle Bug yarn, so instead I used Brava Bulky. Still makes for a very soft, very warm sweater.

This pattern works up so quickly in the bulky yarns that I was able to make two within the two months of the pattern test, even with having to wait for two different yarn shipments to come in. The sweaters feature raglan sleeves and a split hem, along with an optional neckline zipper. I added the zipper into the first version, but I left it off the second one.

I did modify the second one slightly by starting in the size 34 instructions and then increasing to the size 38 instructions for the body to give a bit of a closer fit in the shoulders and the regular amount of positive ease. I also created stripes in the second one by changing colors every 20 rows in the body after doing the top section in a single color. In fact, I ended up with more stripes than I intended because I was using some old yarn that I had and some new and the dye lots were so different that it let me create different stripes out of the same color.

You can find more detailed infor on yarn, needles, etc. in the Ravelry project for each sweater. Click here for the plain sweater. Click here for the striped sweater. You can get the pattern and make your own version on Ravlery here.