Cat Mad Crochet

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

It’s really hard not to be influenced by what you see when you are designing anything. Making a sign? Every sign is going to whisper to you. Designing a house? You will look at every other house and room in it differently than if you were not. Designing a sweater? The world is ripe with sweaters to see and be inspired by. It’s really hard not to take bits and pieces from other people’s designs and work them into yours. This can happen so unconsciously that, if asked, you would not be able to cite the influence though it came up five times in your Pinterest feed and you really did like those sleeves.

To get around being accused of copying, I like to get the bits and pieces of my inspiration from historic dress. First, I find the Regency and the Edwardian periods rich with ideas and silhouettes. Second, not one of those original designers is on Pinterest or Instagram or the planet anymore in any form other than a bit of grave dirt. I am free to borrow, distort, transmute, and corrupt to my heart’s content. Happy day. I can take a sleeve from one period, add it to a silhouette from another, and add a peplum from yet a third. It’s like playing Mr. Potatohead with fashion and design. 

Enter Hannah’s latest sweater. She wanted something with a wide (read hanging on to the edges of her shoulders) neck line, a fitted body, fitted sleeves, and a peplum. So I pulled the neckline from 1880, a peplum from the 1940s, added my own versions of fitted sleeves and body, and off we went. She wanted it to have buttons because buttons are like jewelry for a sweater, and one can never have enough fiddly bits to one’s clothing. 

I had thought, as I worked Adia’s cowl, that I would do a sweater for Hannah with the Buds on Stems stitch pattern, and now I had a target. I kept a little journal to share with you as I worked this sweater. Please enjoy the pains and joys of my process.

Day 1

Beginning of the day

I have enough yarn to make a sweater and lose some to me having to frog it poorly. I have a stitch pattern, Buds on Stems from Crochet Every Way. I worked out a nice in-the-round increase on Adia’s lizard cowl, so that’s settled. I even made a swatch, which is weird for me but I’m trying really hard not to mess up. I am ready to make a sweater.

Based on the measurements I made from the swatch, I just need 213 chains and I will be off.

Later in the day

Okay, just no. Why do I do this? Why do I not make myself just learn to crochet to gauge and use other people’s patterns? Do I really have to keep forcing myself through the torture of designing bespoke clothing for my children? Are there not perfectly good sweaters out there? Sweaters from a nice thrift shop that maybe need a little love and attention? Couldn’t I just spruce up one of those rescue sweaters and be happy? Why am I never content?

Frogged three times. I stayed up late studying raglan and round yoke construction. I hate everything.

Day two

I slept well. That helped. I have now rewritten my thoughts from yesterday in my prettier handwriting and made diagrams that can be read by other people and don’t look like a mad scientist was recreating life. Today’s plan is to rework the sleeve and body stitch counts to better emulate a compound raglan, write out very clear and thought out instructions about where increases will go and why, and restart the sweater. I have this.

If everything goes horribly wrong, I am going to rewrite the yoke again for a round yoke and just go forward with that. Cross everything, I’m off to start it!

Later in the day

I should have just done it with the round yoke to begin with. Grumble. I frogged everything. Told it to behave tomorrow, and I’m going to bed. This is why those make some rectangles, seam them together, and behold! a sweater patterns are popular. 

Day three

Why do I always try to jitterbug to a waltz? I already worked out an increase for a round yoke! Why will I not just let myself use it?

I’m going to use it now. I’m going to divide the yoke into six sections and run the increases there. When one part seems big enough, I can just stop doing the increases there and work the stitch pattern as written. Cross everything this time works!!!!

Later in the day

Repeat after me:  Trust the process. Even if it is my own process and the whole thing is made up of half truths and possibilities and wishful thinking, I must trust the process.

Day 4

I think it’s working! I keep changing the number of stitches I need to end the yoke with, but I’m sure I’ll have that worked out by the time I get to the end. 

I think, and this makes me feel ill, that I need to set up one of those algebraic proportion problems and solve for x to get the best possible number of stitches for the bottom of the yoke. I’m going to think very hard about that and not do it for several days until it becomes critical. In the meantime, the yoke increases make sense and are working up quite nicely. Happy day!

Later in the day

If I just divide the inches I need by 3 and then multiply that number by 4 and then round up to the nearest whole number, I have the correct(ish) number of buds I need to end the yoke with. Blessings on my calculator. Long may it live. Take that Mrs. Sabo! We all have calculators now and all the time, too.   

It’s all going to plan. Please let that not jinx it.

Day 5

I’m starting to end off the increases and just work until I have enough length. I’m a little worried it’s going to get weird, but it can’t just keep increasing forever because, the last I checked, Hannah is, in fact, not round. Fingers crossed this works. Trust the process, for whatever that’s worth. 

Day 6

I think I miscalculated the yoke depth but I can’t tell because it isn’t blocked. Crap. I’m going to have to think about this now too. 

Later in the day

I’m trusting the process that I made up, which means I am having faith in my math and measurement skills, which makes me insanely nervous because I know my skills. Or lack of skills. Whatever. 

I got to the arm division part. I counted out stitches and placed markers. I’m going to think about how I will do the decreases for body shaping and see where I am tomorrow.

Should I get the yoke wet and block it? I feel like I’m crocheting blind when I crochet based on measurements and gauge squares, no matter how many times I do it and do it well. I think I’m making myself sick with these thoughts.

Day 7

I played with the decreases and wrote down what seems to work. I’m going to do the division for the arms and body tonight and then make a plan for the body part of the sweater. If this fails, I’ll go right back to making scarves and be happy petting the yarn and not doing math. Like ever again. No more math!

Day 8

The arm division is done. I’ve done some math (seriously enough with the math!) for the body decreases and I’ve started the body. I’m going to go work on a nice scarf today. Pretty, pretty, mathless scarf.

Day 9

The scarf is going well.

Day 10

Dammit all if the scarf isn’t nearly done. Grumble.

Day 11

Well, the scarf is done. I’m going to willingly weave the ends. 

Later in the day

The ends are woven and I’ve picked up a UFO. 

Day 12

I slept really well and I feel good about working on the sweater today. I made tea and I’ve set up a happy little spot to work while I make sure the cooking beans don’t burn the house down.

Lunch time

I have nothing to show for the sweater. I made a stupid mistake and had to frog the same two rows two times. I do not care. It was a lovely morning with many good points to it. I’m going to tackle those rows later today and it’s going to be awesome.

Note:  The mistake was that I tried to lay out the decrease to see how it would work and then failed to remove it. I frogged back and reworked the rows, but actually had only removed half of it. So, I’m still an idiot, but I’m an idiot who had a really good morning and I’m going to hold onto that.

Later in the day

I’ve done it! It’s going great! Happy hours of crochet ahead!

Day 13-15

It’s going so well! The decreases are working perfectly and making a nice smooth looking line to the edge of the sweater. My math seems to be working, which is its own special miracle. Happy days! Trust the process! Believe in the math! Check it many times before you do, but believe in it!

Day 16

Okay, I went a little too far in the body part and should have started the peplum increase, but I only had to frog three rows and it actually went really well. Happy day! 

I’ve laid out the peplum increase and decided to bump up the hook size for the back part of the peplum to make it a little longer and looser than the front. It’s going to be awesome!

Day 17

The peplum is going to be huge! Well, not huge but by the time I reach the edge it’s going to have double the number of buds in a row. I hope it looks okay. Crossing everything! It’s only about 26 rows until the body and peplum are done and I get to start the sleeves. I know the decrease works, so the sleeves should go smoothly. I hope so. I really, really, really hope so. 

Day 18 – 21

Peplum work continues.

It’s going so well! The drape is nice and I really think I’ve got it. I’ve done the math, which hurt, and I am almost done crafting the perfect peplum. Joy and happiness for everyone!

Day 22

I washed the whole thing and have it blocking because I panicked that it wasn’t going to fit. The peplum is not finished. Crossing everything that my math was right.

I’m off to work on a wrap.

Day 23

It’s still damp. The wrap is coming nicely.

Day 24

Is it cold or damp? I cannot tell. I’m going to poke it this afternoon. Until then, wrap time!

Later in the day

It’s dry! It fits perfectly! My math worked! My gauge rectangle worked! My stitching was true! I did it! About eight rows and the peplum is done. This could not be going better!

Day 25

I want to frog the peplum. I know what I said yesterday, listen to what I was thinking about last night as I fell asleep. The peplum increases every row for like ten rows and then, to smooth out the bumpy increase points, I’m going to work those last rows, the ones I almost finished yesterday, without increases. This should smooth it out and it will be beautiful.

But what if it isn’t? What if the points are still there? What if it looks weird not increasing anymore. I could frog it and put in a bunch of increases, like every time there is a double crochet I would work an increase. Then I would only work increases in, say, the first two rows of buds and that would enable me to hide the bumpy bits, which are now everywhere, at the top instead of having them so close to the bottom where I might not be able to hide them. 

I could be saving myself lots of time by not finishing those last rows and starting over. Or I could just be messing the whole thing up. Hateful. I need to make a decision.

Later in the day

Hannah says she likes what the peplum is doing, so I am going to keep going. I hope this was the right decision.

The wrap is going well.

Day 26

It worked! Hannah was right! The peplum is so cool! I’m very happy with it. I hope the sleeves go as well.

Later in the day

I ran all the math for the sleeves and was so proud of myself I started right away. Of course, I had to frog it several times. The first time was because I started working a bud row that was supposed to be a stem row and then because I started working in the round in non-turned rounds, and I need to work in turned rounds. I’ve got it now, and it’s going along really well. I’m so happy with the sleeves! They look like real sleeves!

Day 27

Why do I always worry so much about gauge swatches and math? This would be easier if I had a really big swatch to work from. I think the little changes that happen over thirty rows are not captured in a 4 inch square swatch. I honestly think I need to start doing what Stephen West suggested and make a scarf, hat, or a shawl in the pattern I plan to work with and then use that as my gauge swatch. The problem is that I like a slightly smaller hook for sweaters and a little bit bigger hook for shawls and scarves. Sweaters just need a little more support and structure, thus the smaller hook. 

I’m going to go try to measure off of the body of the sweater that I washed and blocked to try and get the arm length right so I don’t do super long octopus arms. Again. Seriously. Not making that mistake again. 

Day 28-31

I really need to have better faith in my own math. School would tell me otherwise, but I have this sweater to attest that I at least have enough math skill to create a sweater. And I did the damn algebraic proportion equations. Hated those then, hate them now, but they do work. 

The sleeves are done and perfect. It’s time to wash and block.

Day 32-33

Why does everything always take forever to dry? Why does the cat always try to barf on my blocking items? Repeatedly? Despite these obstacles, it’s blocking and it looks awesome! I am really excited to see this one done.

Day 34

The fit is perfect, which means my math worked! The buttons are attached! I did have to tighten up the buttonholes a bit, but I did, and now they do not tend to pop open on their own. A good feature indeed. I am so happy! Go me!

If you would like to try this sweater yourself, I used a 3 mm hook and Malabrigo Mechita yarn. I needed 4 hanks for a size XXXS sweater. My notes are included below as a downloadable PDF. They are not a full pattern but a guide for you to create your own sweater tailored to your own size with your own yarn and hook requirements.

Please note, you must wash and block your swatch before you measure.