Fluffy mohair cardigan - design considerations...
That's the closest I will get to a selfie... According to @mivstar it was our 'golden hour'; that time of a sunny evening where we get super shadows on that white / canvas wall at home. I called her to photograph me as I was doing the crocheting. It was quite hard, but we both enjoyed the challenge - I then used my google doc photo to change the 'grey to 'sepia'.
I have kept on knitting the digestive tract but as it’s a repetitive and slow process I also allow myself all sorts of distractions. This week I will be making a small crocheted cardigan size 8 years for a friend’s daughter. She gave me the yarn and a crochet hook number 5.
Below you can see a photo of the label:
It’s a lovely colour mixture of acrylic, nylon and 10% mohair
I made a couple of small samples to get the feeling of stitches and thickness. My tension swatch was 11 stitches to 7 rows to make a 10 cm square.
I crocheted a bigger piece as well and noticed that without stretching 37 stitches gave me 35 cm of width for the back. Interestingly once stretched that goes to 38 cm width. I took note of this because the garment will stretch after washing.
I also confirmed my suspicions that the fluffy nature of the yarn would make it very hard to unravel.
While making one of the swatches I needed to unravel and photo 1 shows you what happened. As you unravel the loose fluff gets tangled up and makes a knot. I immediately very carefully cut it - as you can see in photo 2. The cut does not damage the yarn and you can often pull the fluff; photo 3 shows you what it looks like now.
To avoid problems that needed too much unravelling I decided to use a very simple double crochet stitch.
Below you can see a sketch of my simple design.
It’s basically mainly rectangles with bits decreased along the way. I based my chest measurements on sizing guides given on websites. The fronts are slightly wider because there will be an overlap for the buttons.
I take my diagram ideas mainly from machine knitting magazines where they normally include quite a lot of detail.
There will be an element of improvisation in the design because I tend to improvise anyway. That is the main reason why I haven’t yet decided on the length.
Amazingly a 50g ball of yarn made exactly 25 cm length (and 35cm width). I shall continue crocheting in that same stitch.
Photos and work by @cryptocariad
With special thanks to @mivstar for the 'sepia' photo
🌻 Thank you @crosheille and @crystalize for hosting #needleworkmonday 🌻
Nice colour @cryptocariad and I like your simple design pattern! I wish you the best in completing it soon. And your silhouette is very interesting. That is one arty shot :) Oh yes, mohair is not easy to work with I think. I played with it once and it wasn't fun (the unraveling part). Other yarns, you do get a bit of kick unraveling but not mohair. I get angry with mohair :D.
Thanks, @marblely. I think I will have to work really 'fast' with the mohair and be done with it as soon as possible to go onto friendlier yarns 😁
It looks so soft! I'm sure your friend's daughter will love it.
Thanks to @coinsandchains, this post was resteemed and highlighted in today's edition of The Daily Sneak.
Thank you for your efforts to create quality content!
Thank you so much for your interest and support @thedailysneak. Also thanks for pointing me to The Daily Sneak. I hadn't heard of it before.
I'm still crocheting the soft and fluffy cardigan and luckily I have enough yarn to finish it, that's always my biggest worry :D
Thank you also to @coinsandchains for your support !
The pleasure is all mine. Have a great day.
Thanks and you too have a great day, @coinsandchains - currently raining in Wales, UK... for a change :D
lol, it's rained here for two days, I think it's just the after effect of hurricane Florence.
Now you made me insanely curious about you appearance :-DDD The sepia photo is very mystic and occult. Perhaps you are the secret leader of an esoteric yarn-cult !!?
And with the little cardigan, it looks very cute on your sketch and the yarn color is also nice, as is the fluffy yarn. But the unravelling... sigh, I also had this problem. It gets felted so fast. I read somewhere that it is easier to unravel if you freeze it first. I am not sure if this is a legit advice or a myth.
Looking forward to the finished garment :-D
You've discovered my secret @neumannsalva :D
Actually, I 'd also heard that piece of advice especially in relation to machine knitting... I'm not a great fan of mohair, but it does look light and a bit fluffy.
That should make a nice cardigan. I have no experience working with mohair because I'm allergic to goat hair but one of my criteria when buying yarn is the "unravel quality" ;)
I just mainly go for acrylic mixes but do appreciate the beauty of natural materials... I'd really like to try knitting / crocheting with more natural fibres like flax and hemp - do you have any experience of those, @muscara ?
Nice selfie :) very pretty yarn should make a lovely cardigan.
Thanks, @steven-patrick. I really like the colour - it did have some bright specks of 'green' though (a bit strange...)
That's the most mysterious selfie I've ever seen! Like something straight from a 1920s horror film...
...we could call it 'The Phantom Crocheter' ;DDDD
I agree with @fiberfrau , your choice of very simple pattern is really smart since it's the yarn that is the star of the show.
😁 I really like The Phantom Crocheter concept, @vliet...
:-DDD
And the more I think about it, @vliet... So when I read @steven-patrick's comment about my fashion design and he mentioned a film called the Phantom Thread it got me wondering whether or not you had seen this film... I haven't (yet) :D
No, I haven't seen it either but from the description, it seems intriguing. Will be definitely planning a film night when the weather turns dreary :) Thanks for mentioning it to me @cryptocariad !
Yes, do not make mistakes in mohair! The fibers cling to each other for dear life. I like to use simple patterns with beautiful yarn--let the yarn do all the fancy work just by being pretty. Looks like you have a great plan.
My
lifeplan is to keep it simple, @fiberfrau... I'm also hoping to finish it soonish as an autumn cardigan :DI know from experience how difficult it is to unravel such yarn! without scissors here can not do. The photo of your shadow turned out great !!!!
Thank you, @tali72... I've actually reached 40cm on the back section now... It grows fast :D
When I saw the first image I immediately looked for a source to see if you had found it online. But nope it is you!! I love your shadowy silhouette. As others have stated it looks very mysterious.
Mohair is not easy to work with but you are doing well and looks like you have a good start on her cardigan. I like your diagram!
Thank you, @needlworkmonday... I had lots of fun changing colour possibilities, actually !
That’s great!
I love the shadow selfie. :) Distractions are great! A while back I thought I would make a "brain hat" for the "march for science." I imagine making brains is like making intestines ...I got really bored with it! I totally didn't finish the hat in time for the march. XD
That 'brain hat' sounds to me like a very long tube to knit, @phoenixwren... I mustn't give up though as I promised I'd finish it, but I've been getting easily distracted by crocheted projects recently :D
I totally understand!