Here's a cardigan I've been working on for a friend. I started it back in April, for her birthday in May. I underestimated how long it would take (though part of this is because I moved in the middle of all of this).
I'm proud of my progress, even though there's a lot to do still. The mesh is just a (1dbl, 1ch) repeated. I started at the back and did a large rectangle. (Using US terminology)
For the front, I started at the shoulders and then worked downwards with the same mesh stitch. I'd do one increase at the inner edge of edge front panel on every other row. So at the very top, if I was starting from the outer edge (what was intended to be the shoulder seam), that was (1dbl, 1ch)*8, then when I started a new row, I did an increase with two doubles in that first stitch. The next row after that had no increases.^[1] I was sort of winging it, but I like how gradually it increased.
I didn't use a pattern because in most of the craft stuff I've ever done, I tend to prefer to make life much harder for myself and understand things from the ground up. That's part of why this has taken so long.
However, it turns out I underestimated how large the back panel should be (this is why patterns tell you to do a gauge swatch I guess). This caused me some difficult in deciding what to do about the fact that there was insufficient space for both the neck and the shoulders. I spent a while looking at if there were ways to extend that main panel, but in the end, I decided to make a long strip for each side that I will seam onto the main body when I'm done. On the bright side, being able to work on the sleeves separately means that it's easier to keep the work a secret from my friend (I live with her, and she thinks that I'm experimenting with some weird mathematical crochet. I don't think she suspects anything, because I was able to redirect by rambling about crochet is super cool for being uniquely able to make mathematical forms like hyperbolae (the best lies always have a granule of truth)
I found the sleeves tricky because I've never crocheted into the side of stitches before, and I spent a while figuring out how to do that in a manner where the stitches for the armhole would be evenly spaced. My original plan was to do this directly into the body, but instead I did it into the addition strip I did to extend the shoulder, but besides that, not much changed. A big tip if you're crocheting into the sides of stitches is to always make sure you go under at least two pieces of yarn, because otherwise the tension caused by the new stitch pulls the existing stitch out of whack a bit. This might be obvious to most people, especially given that in a regular crochet stitch, you go under both of the loops of a stitch, but like I say, doing it freestyle usually involves making things harder for myself in the pursuit of learning.
It didn't help that my stitches seem to be quite tight, so there wasn't much space to get the hook through without splitting the yarn. I ended up "scouting out" where I wanted to put the stitches by poking a smaller crochet hook through to open up the gap better, as well is judicious use of stitch markers for that first row of the sleeve. I was way too persnickety about this, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.
For the sleeves, I ended up switching to treble crochet (US), because I was impatient with how long it was taking. The problem here is that I found that there was too large of a gap at the top of each stitch (i.e. where you insert your hook when making stitches during the next row). I looked all over for tips, and I practiced a bunch to improve my tension, but to little avail. The various tips I found did help, but not nearly as much as I'd like. I suspect it'd be easier if I had more practical experience, but I just couldn't get it consistent, despite practicing on swatches on and off for weeks (I use parcel string from the post office for practicing on). This problem did exist for the double stitches too, but not nearly as badly.
I did find a solution though. I'm almost certainly not the first one to discover this, but I couldn't find anyone talking about this online. What I found worked was to do one less yarn over (yo) than was required for the stitch (which means that for a treble, which usually starts with two yo, I only did one). After pulling up a loop through the stitch, I'd have three loops on my hook, like what you'd have for a double stitch. I'd proceed as normal until I had two loops on my hook, and then I'd drop one of the loops of my hook, holding it with my fingers so I could pick it up again afterwards. Then I would insert my hook beneath the bar that was better the developing post of my new stitch, and the preceding stitch, before picking up that dropped loop again (resulting in three loops on the hook). Then I'd just finish the stitch as normal ((yo, pull through two loops)*2). It worked surprisingly well. If people are interested, I could do a larger write up of this technique. If anyone knows of someone who has also figured this out, or if it has a name, let me know — I'd love to learn more)
There's still lots to do, especially as I'm planning on doing bell sleeves. That was another part of the delay. I did look for advice online for this, but I was unsatisfied with what I found, and opted to spend a while trying to understand the geometry of increases. If people are interested in this, I can share my calculations when I get to that point (I did a bunch of maths and trials, and I put the note away safe until I get to that point, nearer the elbow (which is pretty soon actually, now that I've cracked the treble problem).
Tools and materials used:
I used a 4.0mm hook, mostly because it's my favourite one I own. It's the addi swing hook and it's a sort of ergonomic shape that works well with how I like to hold my hooks (though it's awkward for people who like to hold their hook differently, such as my friend, who has also been learning crochet).
The yarn is King Cole Linendale in Damson. I went for it because it's a cotton, viscose and linen blend (57%, 30% and 13% respectively) and I wanted to make something that'd be cooler for Summery months (bear in mind this was intended as a gift for a May birthday). The yarn is quite splitty, but not overly so. I did have to be careful with it though, and occasionally I have to reintroduce twist into the yarn because right handed crochet stitches introduce twist opposite to the twist of the yarn, which causes it to untwist. I would do this by periodically holding the work up in the air, tying a half hitch knot around the ball of yarn so I can dangle it below the work without it all unwinding, and then spinning the yarn round to reintroduce twist into the yarn. I'd then smooth my fingers over the yarn a bit to try to even out the twist a bit so it doesn't gather all in one area. I wouldn't advise you do this though, because it seems like it's a lot of faff, hard to do consistently, and may lead to areas of excess or insufficient twist in areas of the yarn. A drapey garment like this seems like it will especially require blocking, but this twist problem means that is even more so the case. Blocking should help alleviate it though.
In an ideal world, I'd have been able to find some yarn with the kind of fibre blend I wanted but was also Z-twisted (as opposed so S twist, as this is). I've done a lot of work understanding yarn twist, so I could also make a post about this if y'all want. I did some silly experiments that involved learning way more about knot theory than was reasonable, so I think I have stuff to add beyond what you tend to read about yarn twist online (not necessarily useful stuff, but I find it interesting). I'm also planning on practicing left handed crochet so that I can use S twisted yarns for crochet more easily.
A cute touch that I have yet to do that y'all will probably appreciate it that I was planning on crocheting a small Swatch and sewing it into the cardigan loosely, like one would a label. This is so that my friend has spare yarn should there be any damage to it. That seems likely, given that the mesh may be prone to getting snagged. My friend is a crocheter, so I want to facilitate her being able to make repairs if necessary. I like this idea because it feels like it encapsulates so much of what I enjoy about crafting items; even if I were more proficient and didn't spend so much time overcomplicating things for myself, a garment like this would still take hours and hours to complete. I like that though. Handicrafts feel like a project of macro-scale mindfulness, and thus this is a little artifact of my resistance against the slop economy we're all living under. I would argue that engaging in crafts in this way is a powerful form of political praxis (though we need to be mindful to not slip into counter-productive consumerism, as I see craft communities and content often do)
Anyway, let me know what you guys think, either of the work in progress itself, or things I've mentioned in this post. Do let me know if you'd be interested in me going into more detail on anything in separate posts. What I've made, nor what I've learned is all that impressive, but I liked writing this post. I don't even know if I'm subscribed to this community yet, but when I realised that this was a space I could share my progress, I thought it'd be cool to contribute to the community. I'm subscribed to a few different craft communities on Lemmy, which are delightful, but often done have much posted to them at the moment. Even if what I have written here isn't super interesting or well written, it's nice to feel like I'm contributing to something. I wrote this post with myself as the intended audience, because I love reading about people's process and learning journey, even if it's in a hobby I don't do, or if it's stuff I already know. The modern internet is often grim, but I love how it enables me to connect with people who are weird in the same ways that I am.
