crochet Archives • Jessica Smith Creates

January 19, 2014August 19, 2018

The Three Year Sweater

I’m not exaggerating on this. Three years.

This is the Roseanne Sweater from the book Blueprint Crochet by Robyn Chachula.

I started this sweater in sophomore year of college. Do you want to know how I know? Because I got the lovely yarn then. And I started the project not long afterward. At most a month afterward.

I’ve been showing you the progress I’ve made on this sweater for as long as I’ve had this blog, but then I forgot to work on it… some more.

The last time we discussed it, I had just started on the shawl collar. I think I finally finished the square blocks in October, and worked on filling in the triangles in November.

But this winter break was when I put my foot down. I was going to finish this sweater once and for all. This break. And when I decided this, I only had a week left. Because I love deadlines.

I finished up the collar last week, and attached the collar to the “vest”. Trying it on, it’s a little bit tight against the shoulders, but if I’m being honest, my gauge is crap, and I was very tense when I was crocheting that bit.

I’m a very tight crocheter. I continually have to move up three hooks just to get near the gauge.

So I folded over the wrapped sides, and crocheted them together. At this point, you are basically instructed to create a chain and then crochet ribbing perpendicular to the edge of the sweater. This is where my problem lies.

I cannot start crocheting in a straight line. It has thwarted every crocheted sweater or purse effort I’ve tried. Which is why I like squares and lace, which just so happens to be pretty.

At this point I switched gears and used a different yarn to rim the bottom of the sweater, and then I began to do a smaller version of the ribbing, which basically worked out well. To bring this yarn in with the rest of the sweater, I then added it around the collar.

In the end, I love this sweater, its cute and I made it, which is a plus.

January Project 2

September 25, 2013

Mesmerizing and Cardigans

So I’ve got lots of yarn, and I’m going to continue working on projects with it. I’ve still got my crochet sweater to finish, but that really doesn’t stop me from starting new projects. And now I’m gonna tell you about them, because now I can!

I got this lovely cornflower blue yarn for Christmas last year, and I knew that I wanted to make something special out of it. It’s soft and silky, but even though I have quite a few skeins it doesn’t add up to a lot of yarn.

crochetme5a

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This sweater caught my eye the first time I got out the book Crochet Me, by Kim Werker, from the library. It’s called the Mesmerize Sweater, for good reasons. It’s so visually pretty, and could be versatile in my wardrobe. I’m thinking it would look lovely over a black dress or something.

These lovely yarns are both a deep purple, and are very different from each other in texture. The one on the right is super soft and fuzzy, and even though it looks blue, it’s really a deep deep purple. The one on the left is more reddish purple, and is a bit scratchier, like it has some wool to it.

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I’m planning to make a Cardilero with these, from the book Warm Knits, Cool Gifts by Sally Merville and Cady Merville. It’s basically a long rectangle with armholes, which I’m going to make with the reddish purple yarn. I’m also thinking of modifying the pattern a bit, so it’ll be a bit warmer. The other yarn will be for sleeves, for as long as one skein per arm will get me. I’m hoping for at least getting sleeves to the elbows.

August 4, 2013

T Minus One Year

In one year I’ll have a bachelor’s degree, and hopefully some sort of employment.

I’ll have had this blog for a year and four months or so.

I’ll also be going to Comic Con.

Which was the main inspiration for starting this blog in the first place.

I wanted to let you know what is to come in the next year, in a more updated and compact list than I have before.

Costuming:

TARDIS costume – Doctor Who

corded petticoat

bum roll

console skirt

bustled overskirt

underbust corset

high necked sleeveless shirt

sleeveless shrug with dangling pearl “sleeves”

time rotor necklace

hair embellishment of some sort

television monitor purse (which will attach to the corset

spats for my t-straps

Belle – Once Upon A Time

Lace and knit skater dress

embellishment necklace

Queen Susan – Narnia: Prince Caspian

white underdress

blue overdress

potentially a quiver – like object

Claudia – Warehouse 13

finishing off the vest – lining and a new zipper

necklace of some sort

Steampunk base costume – potentially for Halloween. Or life in general.

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corset waist skirt

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Short sleeved high necked button down shirt – emerald green? I like this simple version of the drawing

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short corded petticoat

Sewing:

UFO #2 – Velvet and Lace Vintage Dress

Kaylee inspired dress – Firefly

Ballroom dancing gown

Refashioned Ready To Wears (so I’m willing to be ready to wear them.)

Knitting/Crochet:

Lacy slouchy hats

Thick shawl

Some necklace making, some quote illustrations, some cards, some leatherwork.

May 31, 2013August 19, 2018

A’collaring we go!

So it’s been a while since I’ve given you an update on my crocheted sweater. It’s moving along, but I took a break during exams and the past week.

Two weeks and a half a week of extra study time was loads of time to procrastinate. I’m an equal opportunity procrastinator, to be honest. Actually studying and crocheting the sweater.

So here’s what I’ve got so far! I’ve finished the vest part of the sweater, and I sewed up the shoulder seams after blocking. It fits well enough around the arms, so I moved on to creating the collar.

I’ve completed 21 whole blocks out of 36, and I’ll then have 10 triangles to make.

I’m hoping to add at least two blocks a day for a while. Then it’ll just be waist ribbing, and arm and collar edging, and then the sweater will be done! Still a lot, but progress is important nevertheless!

April 26, 2013August 19, 2018

UFO #1 About Half Done

Look! Look! Look!

I’m about halfway done with the main structures of the sweater, with creating the base portion of the sweater. The next part to do is the shawl collar, after fitting the base.

In case you aren’t up on your yarn-based crafts, I’ll remind both of us about the proceedings.

To fit the base, I first need to block the base. Because I don’t have all of the supplies I would prefer to do this, ie an ironing board and a spray bottle, I’ll be working with a towel. I have some safety pins, and I’ll find a ruler.

I’ll be pinning the project to the wet towel, in the dimensions dictated by the pattern. Make that, as close to those dimensions as is possible…

Once its dry, I’ll be sewing up the arm seams, making sure I have the proper room to move.

I tend to find that even with careful measuring and blocking, I still rarely get a garment that really fits without me fixing it somehow, normally enlarging certain portions, so I’m doing it right this time. By checking for fit early on, I’m hoping to arrest this problem well before the end of the project, before I can decide that I’m not going to wear the project that I spent so much time on.

After any fixes, I’ll be making appropriate fixes to the pattern for the shawl collar, and then I’ll be working on finishing up that one!

Edging, and then finishing the garment with a waistband, and then I’ll have myself a sweater!

April 15, 2013

It looks like… something?

Here is an update on my crochet project.

I’ve finished over half of the main sweater portion. It doesn’t quite look like much yet, and it is a little wonky in dimensions. But that is for blocking! And blocking can solve all problems!

My progress wasn’t quite as much as I had planned, as I only managed to finish about a half of the blocks I was meant to, but I promise I was working on homework instead. I promise!

I’ll see you next week for the next update! And there are some more posts in the works for this week, to make up for the radio silence that has been currently abounding.

April 7, 2013

Here we are again…

So I promised you an update.

And I told you that I planned to make three squares a day, but considering these can take me up to 45 minutes to make each, that isn’t always feasible for a homework night. AKA week night.

But I’m trying. I promise. And I think I’ve made up all of it this weekend!

Here’s what I’ve got so far! I have gotten one of the remaining sides of the back nearly done. Six more squares!

Progress on UFO#1.

I have done more work on this project in the past two weeks than I had since I started it last year.

Very good progress!

Though, I’m only planning on doing two squares per day now. And more when possible.

Wait for an update next weekend!

March 30, 2013August 25, 2022

And I can’t fly a plane! Can you?

Doctor Who is my new favorite show to crochet to.

Granted I never did have a favorite show to crochet to. I just crocheted whenever, but today is when I made actual progress.

Watching Doctor Who.

link (ETA – sorry the link’s broken now!)

And waiting for the next episode to premiere. Because I’m cool like that.

So remember this project?

I crocheted seven blocks more!

The point of the pattern I’m using, and the fabulous book it’s from, Blueprint Crochet, is that it’s a modular crochet garment, but instead of making up all the little pieces and then stringing them together, you make modular blocks, and then crochet them together as you go.

Today I decided exactly how the swatch I had already been working on was going to fit into the pattern, and then I built on it to further the pattern. I’m now keeping track of my progress by drawing around the blocks on my copy of the pattern, so I know where I’ve put which block, and where I’m supposed to be attaching each successive one.

I promise I do own the book, but dragging the book with me across the pond was not going to happen. I was conserving weight in my suitcase. Also I don’t feel bad about drawing on a copy in pen, where I would in an actual book.

The only time I’ve drawn in a book intentionally was in eleventh grade when I had to do a project on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain. We were required to underline lines relating to our project theme, but because I hadn’t quite finished reading the book by the time we were supposed to prove that we had read by underlining, I went on an underlining frenzy. I did like the book. If you like the legend of King Arthur and want a rant by Twain, its a great read. Just don’t do a school project on it if you don’t like it already. Or don’t do a project on it at all.

And then there was that math textbook. But that’s another story.

March 7, 2013August 25, 2022

Documented: UFO #1 – The Crocheted Faux Wrap Sweater

I present to you a ufo that I have brought with me to finish on my studies abroad.

To be honest I haven’t gotten very far on it. I accept this.

I also accept that I probably won’t finish it before returning home. That doesn’t mean I can’t hope.

This is what it will end up being, in the far future.

The pattern is Raeanne Shawl Sweater from the wonderful book Blueprint Crochet by Robyn Chachula, and is created by making small modular squares, and crocheting them into the main structure as it is worked.

I got this lovely yarn for free, and the marking on the inside says: astro dyed spotted flake.

To me, its a great yarn because it almost gives the illusion of an animal print when used together, and the yarn itself has a very interesting texture.

Isn’t free yarn great?

So what I’ve been working on so far, and what the picture above is of, is the base, and I’m only about 1/4 done with that section. Then I need to make the cowl structure, and the end of the project lies in the creation of the waistband, which holds the cowl together, and created the faux wrap shape. Then weaving in ends.

My plans for the next few months, knowing that I can almost not finish (though that would be ideal), is to finish the square work on the base and the cowl. Because I also have no method of blocking the piece, it would make sense to only get that far anyway, so the piece can be blocked before finishing.

Maybe now I’ll actually get some good work done on it!