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Thursday, May 9, 2013

A Garment in 72 Hours

Even though I am both a process and a product girl when it comes to crocheting & knitting, today I'm definitely endorsing the product end of the spectrum.

Last week, after finally assembling the afghan for my parents, I felt inspired to tackle what seemed like another large project: a garment for me. Over the last 18 months, I have been challenged through various Block-A-Month crochet-a-longs, which have expanded my technique and helped me to become a more adventurous crafter. I have also gotten better at knowing what I like and don't like, and am now more than willing to frog a project if it is not suiting my needs.
sweater shot 2
3/4 length sleeves & 2 buttons
The garment that I choose to make: a crocheted cardigan. I knew this would be a good choice, because it would not take as long as a knitted cardigan (I knit a lot slower than I crochet) and also because I had just recently lamented to my sister the lack of colored cardigans in my wardrobe.
button
my pair of buttons are nearly an exact match to the stripe I added
The pattern I picked is a free one: Chevron Lace Cardigan. This pattern was recently brought to my attention again through Knit and Crochet Blog Week, where we were asked to think about projects that would reflect the characteristics of our chosen house. My chosen house, the House of Manatee, reflects the calmer, steady nature of crafters, and I felt like it fit my most prominent crafting personality. I further explain this here.

Back to product versus process. I enjoy crafting because it makes me feel less useless while watching television. It makes me feel productive. I also enjoy wearing the items I make. This project was definitely a product. The process was quick, meaning I had the desired item (a colored cardigan) in a few short days. I never thought it would take me so little time to make myself a sweater, and I am totally thrilled. I dyed the yarn for it simply ages ago, blogged about here.
sweater shot
Perfect length, perfect weight
After debating about buttons with several different people, I found the ones I wanted.

It didn't really need blocking, so I wore it on Monday. Outside in the sun, the wool was definitely a bit too heavy. But in my air-conditioned workplace, it was perfect. I had a lot of compliments on it, which calmed my worries about it being a completely awful garment.

This sweater also used up close to 700 yards of yarn, pushing my total yardage used this year over 5 miles!!! (I know I have added to my stash this year, but I still feel awesome!)

Linking with Tami to share the love of a finished sweater!

8 comments:

  1. I love the color; I love the sweater. I also love BAMCAL's. I have learned a ton doing the different blocks each month, and the giant bonus to all that learning is that I have finished 2 afghans, and have 2 more half done!

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  2. Looks wonderful! Clever you :)

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  3. Looks awesome. I'm sitting in air-conditioning right now thinking how lovely it would be to have something like that. I guess I'd better get busy :)

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  4. Wow, this is really beautiful! It's amazing how fast a determined crocheter can produce a striking garment! The colorway looks stunning on you - great dye job!

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  5. Oh, it's sooo beautyful! I love this pattern and I love your choice of colours. Great job!

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  6. I love it and I can't believe you made that so quickly! I've been doing more garments lately. I love the chevron patterning of this sweater too!

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  7. I am not always a fan of how large crocheted items look, but this cardi is fabulous. The color is wonderful, the shape is perfect, it looks great for spring/summer.

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