Cat Mad Crochet

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

The Mission:

To create a sweater for Hannah that is fitted and semi-formal to wear over sundresses to extend their season. Ideally, it will be inspired by a Spencer Jacket. Preferably, this Spencer Jacket.

As found on Pinterest, photo from Villa Rosemaine

The Plan:

I have three hanks of Malabrigo Mechita left over from when I bought yarn to make a coat that became a sweater with out-of-control arms. Three hanks should be enough for a petite sweater especially now that I know to rein in the sleeves. I plan to use a 2 double crochet v stitch (2 doubles, three chains, 2 doubles) to give it an open look but still lend a bit more sturdiness than a very open lace stitch would give. I love making crochet that flows like fine knitwear, but sweaters do need a little extra body so they don’t just melt off of the wearer, not even knitwear sweaters are that flowy. I will save the truly limp crochet work for scarves and wraps and go for just happily drapey in this case.  

In addition to being a stitch pattern I am familiar with, this particular v stitch will also allow me to form a raglan line between two of the v stitches and run increases on either side of it as needed. Hopefully this will permit me to make a compound raglan increase. The Spencer jacket I wish to recreate has nicely fitted sleeves and a bit of a scooped neckline. I think a compound raglan will allow me to work with a sweater making method I like (down with pieced sweaters!) and give me the fit I am after. Hopefully. If it goes right.  

I plan to work the torso section down to the end of Hannah’s rib cage (shorter than the reference picture but to Hannah’s request) and keep the sleeves fairly fitted. I want to start the neck opening with a line of v stitches that covers the back, adds two v stitches over either shoulder, and one more on either side for the front of the body. This will allow me space to work the compound raglan increases and provide a bit of a saddle shoulder sort of thing. I’ve never done one of those either. So many new things this time!

I will add an extra double crochet to the outside edge of the first and the final v stitches in the row and run the scoop neck edge increases off of that stitch. This will also give me a flatter edge when I stop making the scooped bit and work straight down. I plan to stop increasing when the two sides meet (with space left for the button placket). We will see if I like that or end up frogging it. (Spoiler: It’s awesome!)

I have made a swatch. I will do the math, though it will be a drudge and make me unhappy. Why must every project begin with math? It’s like a test of my resilience and dedication to the craft each and every time.  

“Yes, I really want to make a sweater.”  

“Enough to do math?”

“Yes.”

“A lot of stupid math with minor algebraic equations?”

“Fine.  Give me the yarn.”

The end result:

Well, I did the math. And then I panicked after I finished the body and blocked it to see how I was doing. The body was fine, thankfully, so I used it as a bigger swatch to gauge the sleeves. I ended up making those a little long, so I frogged to the right length and reworked the edge. Perfect!

Here’s the thing: These 4 inch by 4 inch swatches are terrible. I have yet to make a swatch that gives me an accurate sense of how a sweater will work out. I just don’t think they are big enough to tell me how my stitch pattern will grow over thirty rows or more or with the weight of the rest of the project pulling on it. These are important, frog avoiding, points, though, and the whole thing would go better if I had a larger swatch! I need to buy two extra hanks of whatever yarn has taken my fancy for a sweater and make a scarf or something out of the darn stuff first. I would use the same hook and the same stitch pattern, but I would have a much larger and more useful swatch. Useful in both the sense that I would get more information out of it and in the sense that I will not have dozens of little 4 inch squares lounging around my house looking at me and wondering about their life options. Back when my children were happy to have another tiny stuffed animal blanket, swatches could be justified. Now it just feels wasteful. If I made a scarf, though, I could actually make my swatch and wear it, too.  

So to the rest of it, the compound raglan shaping went really well. I worked more body increases at the top and bottom, and the sleeve increases in the middle and the bottom of the yoke. I think I might have been able to work more body stitches at the top, or pace them better throughout the whole yoke, but I’m happy with the end result. I guess I have something to work on next time. I’m deeming my first effort a success, though. 

There were no weird extra sleeve stitches in this sweater, so the fitted sleeve is way better than the other raglans I have made. The extra double crochet at the end of the row worked really well for doing my neck line increases and created a nice, smooth, rounded, scooped neck. I finished the bottom edge with a few rows of single crochet that I extended from the button placket across the bottom hem. I think this ties the button placket and the hem together nicely and creates an intentional looking finished edge. It’s a cute jacket that fits well. Happy, happy, happy!

This sweater had a lot of new techniques for me, from compound raglan sleeves to saddle shoulders. I made a lot of notes for myself in full, complete sentences before I started and I think that made my work much easier. I think I do better when I write out a solid plan for a sweater in words, not just drawings and a couple of notes. I know how badly I draw and how illegible and crossed out my notes have been if that is all I had started with. Full sentence plans with helpful diagrams really seems to be my happy method for free handing sweaters. 

If you would like to give this jacket a try, I’ve included my notes with stitch diagrams. I used a 3 mm hook and a single ply fingering weight yarn (I used Malabrigo Mechita, you can use whatever works for you). This one works up much faster than a full sweater, so it’s a nice place to start playing with compound raglans. Happy crafting!