Artsy & Crafty

My Crochet Mess

This is my second attempt at crocheting a sweater. On my first attempt, the pieces didn’t fit together right at the shoulders. So I remade each part at least three times, then ended up ripping out the whole thing and making a boatload of scarves and winter hats, instead.

But I love this pattern and bought the wrong yarn for one project but just enough for this project, so I’m trying it out. As you can see above, I’m having the same luck, so far, as with the first ill-fated sweater. This was hours and hours ripped out in seconds.

Much better now

I had problems with what the pattern calls a V-stitch but is really a combination of one front post forward slanting stitch and one front post backward slanting stitch. My count kept coming out with stitches added, until I figured out that I should be skipping a stitch on both the left slanted and the right slanted crossover stitch.

After I figured out how to make this work, I looked through a lot of videos until I found these.
How to Make a Front Post Double Crochet

For lefties–How to slant the stitch back

For lefties–How to slant the stitch forward

What do you think?

At a church bazarre, I bought a fabulous crocheted bag. It’s shaped like a hobo-style purse and created in a fishnet pattern. So far, I’ve used it for carrying a change of clothing, a manuscript and lots of books. I’m looking forward to taking it to the farmer’s market when it opens this Spring.

One of the most intriguing things about this bag was the yarn/string it was made with. The crafter used Sugar and Spice which is a brand name. It’s 100% cotton and not fuzzy enough for me to call yarn, but much thicker than crochet thread.

So I bought a skein and gave it a try. The two potholders, worked in two different granny square patterns, are what I ended up with. But now, I like them so much, I don’t want to get them dirty.

I need to see if I can shrink the one with the bigger holes in it. I’m thinking hot water and the dryer might do the trick.

I’ve been told that when making potholders or trivets to use cotton or wool. Anything with acrylic in it might tend to melt. But cotton/wool is NOT fireproof. I think I’ll end up using mine for dishclothes.

Got a project you made out of this yarn/string? Post a comment and add a link to your photo and I’ll check it out.

What do you think?