Are your wrists sometimes sore from crocheting ?
You inherited a collection of old plain hooks  and now you’re dreaming of enhancing your stash with pretty colorful hooks ?
Or maybe the yarn sometimes snag into the head of the hook, and you wonder whether you could find more efficient/precise hooks ?

Last weeks we started to review 5 different brands and types of crochet hooks and ergonomic hooks: ADDI swing and colors, CLOVER soft-touch and amour, KNITPRO waves, and I shared the results of my tests along with 2 fellow crocheters to make the review more objective and thorough.

Then we tested more hooks, with the PRYM soft and ergonomics, TULIP ETIMO rose, SUSAN BATES silvalume .

Deepest thanks to all the brands who generously sent hooks for us to test (with no influence on our results): ADDI crochet hooks- PRYM crochet hooks – CLOVER crochet hooks – JIMBO’s front porch  crochet hooks – TULIP ETIMO crochet hooks

First, here’s a reminder of the specifis of all 3 crocheters who shared their opinions in this test, along with some info on each of us:

 

 

3/ And me… Sylvie Damey. – “Left-hander, holding my hook with a knife grip. No real joint issues, yet sometimes my wrists feel a bit rusty. In those cases, I’ll try to alternate the “working hand” even though my hook always remain in the right hand.
I crochet mostly sweaters, and as such, I’m always looking for speed and efficiency. If the yarn tends to snag or if I have to pull each loop through one-by-one, I just loose patience instantly !
My most important criteria on a hook is thus the precision and efficiency of the head of the hook. All the rest comes after.

 

Finally, I was the lucky winner of a hook on Moogly’s blog a few weeks ago. It was too late to include it with the other hooks for my fellow testers, but here’s already my own thoughts on it:

Are your wrists sometimes sore from crocheting ?
You inherited a collection of old plain hooks  and now you’re dreaming of enhancing your stash with pretty colorful hooks ?
Or maybe the yarn sometimes snag into the head of the hook, and you wonder whether you could find more efficient/precise hooks ?

Last week we started to review 5 different brands and types of crochet hooks and ergonomic hooks: ADDI swing and colors, CLOVER soft-touch and amour, KNITPRO waves, and I shared the results of my tests along with 2 fellow crocheters to make the review more objective and thorough.

Deepest thanks to all the brands who generously sent hooks for us to test (with no influence on our results): ADDI crochet hooks- PRYM crochet hooks – CLOVER crochet hooks – JIMBO’s front porch  crochet hooks – TULIP ETIMO crochet hooks

First, here’s a reminder of the specifis of all 3 crocheters who shared their opinions in this test, along with some info on each of us:

 

 

3/ And me… Sylvie Damey. – “Left-hander, holding my hook with a knife grip. No real joint issues, yet sometimes my wrists feel a bit rusty. In those cases, I’ll try to alternate the “working hand” even though my hook always remain in the right hand.
I crochet mostly sweaters, and as such, I’m always looking for speed and efficiency. If the yarn tends to snag or if I have to pull each loop through one-by-one, I just loose patience instantly !
My most important criteria on a hook is thus the precision and efficiency of the head of the hook. All the rest comes after.

Are your wrists sometimes sore from crocheting ?
You inherited a collection of old plain hooks  and now you’re dreaming of enhancing your stash with pretty colorful hooks ?
Or maybe the yarn sometimes snag into the head of the hook, and you wonder whether you could find more efficient/precise hooks ?

Crocheting is now my full-time job and as such, I’ve long been wondering about the perfect hook: would it necessarily involve an ergonomic handle, what are the possible differences between all the various hooks… and is there even such thing as a perfect hook ?

I did have a personal favorite, but wanted to take this opportunity to try all the best hooks on the market. Yet, no review would be complete with ONLY my own opinion, as all crocheters crochet different things (amigurumis/mandalas/sweaters/lace shawls..), hold their hook differently, have health issues that influence the type of hooks they need…

Deepest thanks to all the brands who generously sent hooks for us to test (with no influence on our results): ADDI crochet hooks- PRYM crochet hooks – CLOVER crochet hooks – JIMBO’s front porch  crochet hooks – TULIP ETIMO crochet hooks

So I invited 2 friends to test the hooks along with me. You’ll find our opinions in the same order throughout all the test.
Here’s some info on each of us:

 

 

3/ And me… Sylvie Damey. – “Left-hander, holding my hook with a knife grip. No real joint issues, yet sometimes my wrists feel a bit rusty. In those cases, I’ll try to alternate the “working hand” even though my hook always remain in the right hand.
I crochet mostly sweaters, and as such, I’m always looking for speed and efficiency. If the yarn tends to snag or if I have to pull each loop through one-by-one, I just loose patience instantly !
My most important criteria on a hook is thus the precision and efficiency of the head of the hook. All the rest comes after.

 

  

Crochet hook ADDIcolors

In ONE word this hook is:
Not pretty – Uninspired – Fun to dismantle & handy for travelling

 

Tech: Metal shaft , plastic handle. Handle is S-shaped, with a very marked thumb-rest. Colors differ depening on size. Metric size written on each hook.

 

Tech: metal shaft, handle made of some sort of plasticy foam material.  Handle is rounded with large flat thumb rest top, and of a different color for each size. Metric & American size written on each hook.

 

Tech: Metal shaft, hard plastic handle with “cushion” on thumb rest. Handle is flat. Colors remain identical for all sizes. Metric & American size written on each hook.

 

This morning I stumbled upon something that may well change my vision of myself ! I’m so excited.

Time to share a few things about me… and maybe you’ll learn a few things about yourself too ?

I’ve been designing crochet patterns for over 10 years now, and I’m quite passionate about all things related to WOOL: spinning, felting, dying.. and even sewing. But you probably already know that.

However, narrowing my personal interests to those items would not reflect the truth. There are many other things I’m super curious about and fascinated by (as those who follow me on Facebook already probably suspect...)

I am deeply touched by everything involving Recycling (I even worked at spreading the word about the new recycling bins at some point), Nature and DIY in general.
I love to camp, cook bread on a firecamp, feel the trees and the wind around me.
I dream of the day we have a house with a large orchard, and can grow our own fruits and veggies.

I’m always curious to learn more about sustainable living: how to make my own clothes, my own cleaning and beauty products, grow my own food… and ideally hardly ever needing to go to a supermarket any more !

Being french, I’m also fascinated by the english language and culture of anglo-saxon countries. So much so that I actually blog in english this very minute, and get to share every days with like-minded friends living at the other end of the world.. That I ended up working professionally as a translator of knitting and crochet patterns ! And that I spent 3 years travelling and working in all those countries I knew I’d love (US & Alaska, New Zealand and Australia..

But that’s not all. To me, managing a creative business is not a chore, it’s something I LOVE ! The first time I realized this, I was in Perth, Australia, and published ads in the local newspaper to do garderning and housekeeping. After a few weeks into it, I realised that I was having the time of my life finding new customers, booking appointments, deciding on what hourly rate to ask, or even which services I would be best at (let’s say I’m still not very good at gardening !). Even now, I love researching about marketing and creative business, and love it even more when I can translate what I’ve learnt into content that actually resonnates both with the readers AND my inner self. That’s the ultimate beauty of being in charge of your own business…

And on top of all that…

Of course like every body else, I also have tons of personal interests. I’ve always been an avid reader. I love all things related to India or Bollywood-style dancing. A few years ago, I discovered contemporary dance and it was a shock, to see how deep this resonates inside me. I’m also known for knowing everything about our local recycling centers…

Anyways.

During my school years, one of the hardest things was to choose. I just happened to love every field ! When it got time to decide on a major for University, I just couldn’t. Instead, I looked at all the different options, and chose a diploma which would allow me to keep as many different fields as I could: foreign languages + culture of anglo-saxon countries + economics and history + math (to which I added economics of sports, to include the Ski resorts I loved to hang out around in my studies..)

Once the time came to choose my career path, it didn’t get any easier. I started to do odd jobs in various directions: selling ski passes both in France and NZ, full-time mom, occasional translator on large professional events, creative writer and translator for various websites, webmaster of a large tourism website + writer of all the content of this site… plus a number of temp jobs.

Yet, at the same time I started to publish my own patterns, quite confidentially at first. Then I got more and more serious about it.. and the few small translation jobs I’d do for fellow knitters turned into full-on translations for book editors and yarn companies. So much so that all this has now turned into my “day-job”.

But every time somebody asks what do I do for a living.. I feel somehow embarrassed, and will reply depending on the situation that “I’m a translator”, or that “I’m a translator and… (insert small blank here) also design and sell my own crochet patterns”..

And then BAM !

Today this video was a huge revelation: Emilie Wapnick, “Why some of us don’t have one true calling” ?  

This feels so spot on. YES ! I am definitively a “multipotentialite“. Curisous and passionate about so many different things at the same time: crochet and all things yarn-related of course, but also about managing a creative business, the web and social media, sharing knowledge through workshops and Fiber festivals, the english language and culture/people of all anglo-saxon countries, autonomy and recycling, sustainable living…

And YES I can totally relate and feel I also have those “superpowers“: Idea synthesis, rapid learning and adaptability.

And YES, I feel I’ll be soon ready to accept fully that whenever I put 100% of my energy into something (such as the recent release of my Pop boxy sweater), I then need to do something completely different ( = no crochet!) to regain my balance and happiness… or I would become insane.

This felt so liberating and at the same time, an opening towards so many new horizons and different ways to envision my business, that I even bought a Pack of tutorials and ebooks Emilie assembled esp. for us multipotentialites. It includes tons of ebooks from people I’m happy to discover,

and her “Renaissance business” ebook which I’ve already started and having a TOTAL BLAST with (you wouldn’t believe how spot on she is, and how hepful her exercises are to organise all these different things into something some sort of common theme. SO excited to keep reading !)

and also Mayi Carles “Life is messy “daily planners, which look so cute but are also full of insights (love Mayi’s blog)

PS – If you can relate to this whole Multipotentialite thing and want to explore it further, to grow your creative business, I highly recomment the Pack (priced at only a tenth of its total value, but available only 3 days starting May 17th) and if you purchase it using my link, I’ll receive a commission which will help paying my bills at the end of the month ;-)

So how about you ? What is your “inner wiring” ? Are you a  “Multipotentialite” or rather a Specialist?  I suspect a number of my “creative circle” may be multis too.. ;-)

There’s these questions every crocheter wonders about at some point, when working rows of Double Crochet:

• Should I crochet the next dc in the same st as the initial ch3, or in the next st ?

• How could I avoid this gap between the ch3 and the next dc ?

• Do those 3 chains count as a stitch or not ?
• Is there any other option rather than always working 3 chains at the beginning of a dc row ?

To answer those questions, let’s crochet together another pretty sample to try all the various techniques and tricks which crocheters around the world devised. We’ll also try and study and compare them, so you can choose your own personal favorite.

This time we’ll use plain dc in both loops, so we can focus only on the edges of our sample.
I’ll be using the same yarn and hook as for the previous episodes of the DC project. Start with a foundation chain of 17 chains, 1 dc in 4th ch after hook and in each following chain. You have 15 dc.

1/ THE BASIC CHAIN 3 :

Option 1 – ch3 and 1 dc in next stitch = ch3 counts as a stitch: start your row with ch3 and work the first dc in the next stitch.  (click for full-size pictures !!)

At the beginning of a row, start with chain 3 (= ch3). Your next stitch will be worked in the following stitch, as indicated by arrow.
In this case, the initial ch3 COUNT as first stitch of this row.

At the end of the row, make sure you work in the top of the ch3 from row below, as indicated by arrow. Because those ch3 COUNT as a regular dc.
If you forget to work in top of those ch3, you’ll be missing stitches very quickly in your stitchcount !

And this is what this first method looks like. The sides are pretty even BUT since the ch3 are thinner than a regular dc you may notice a gap between the ch3 and following dc. Depending on people and projects, this may or may not be an issue. To me, this is a super simple method with decent results.

Option 2 – chain 3 and dc in the same stitch = the ch3 do not count as a stitch:  in this case, the first dc is worked in the same st as the starting ch3.

At the beginning of a row, start with ch3. The next stitch, a regular dc, will be worked in the SAME stitch, as indicated by arrow.
In this case, the intial ch3 DO NOT COUNT as a stitch. They’re a bit like an invisible stitch: we’ll have to pretend we don’t see them… ;-)

At the end of the row, make sure you DON’T work into the initial ch3 this time. Those are invisible, remember ?
They don’t count as a stitch, so we won’t work into them or we would add extra unwanted stitches each row !

And this what this method looks like. No gap all right, but ugly bumps alternating at the end of each 2nd row. That’s the 3 chains which pop out at the beginning of the rows.

I used to follow this method the very first months I crocheted.. but I quickly discovered I hated it and would never go back  !

2/ THE CHAINLESS STARTING DC

I discovered this technique on Tamara Kelly’s Moogly blog, but this technique has apparently been around for a while and “unvented” by several people.

What I really like about it is that it creates a high stitch very similar to a dc, simply by elongating the initial loop and twisting it over itself. I made a video in french if you feel adventurous, or you could just watch one of those videos in english: : video by Moogly – video by A stitch less ordinary.

Or watch this step by step tutorial:

At the beginning of a row, stretch your starting loop slightly. Then place your index finger (or whichever is convenient for you) ton top of this starting loop, so that it stays in place no matter what.

Then twist this elongated loop around the hook, going down and to the back of work (videos made it so much easier for me to understand). So now you have what looks like 2 loops on hook (even though one of those “loops” is made of 2 strands). Keep your finger on the top loop !

Yarn over, and pull through that first “loop” ‘made of the twisted strands). You have 2 loops on hook.

Yarnover, pull through the 2 remaining loops. You have completed your first chainless starting dc !!

To continue the row, work a regular dc in the next stitch, as shown by arrow.
At the end of the row, work the last dc in top of the chainless starting dc from row below.

The end result looks really good IMO. You can hardly distinguish the chainless starting dc from any other dc, as their height and thickness are quite similar.
It’s one of my favorite methods. It might look a bit complex at first, but I swear it gets natural really quick, and will make all the difference if you want real neat edges for your crocheted dc rows.

3/ THE STACKED SINGLE CROCHETS:

Another neat option I discovered while researching for this episode is to stack 2 single crochets on top of each other, using the foundation sc technique. Here again, I made a video, only in french, but which you may find helpful if you’re stuck. (be warned tho, my nails looked terrible yesterday when I filmed it)

And let’s see how to crochet stacked sc to start a row of dc:

At the beginning of a row, work 1 single crochet in same stitch as starting loop, as indicated by arrow.

Now we’re going to work a foundation sc into that first sc. See that side strand shown by arrow on the sc we’ve just made ? Insert your hook into that side strand, from right to left for right-handed crocheted (lefties I know you’re competent!). And continue the sc as follows: yarnover, pull through 1 loop, yarnover, pull through both remaining loops.

Bravo ! You’ve just completed your stacked sc. It’s also quite similar to a regular dc, only a bit wider at the top. Continue working the row with a dc in next stitch… and end end with a dc in top of stacked sc from previous row.   And this is what it looks like after a few rows. Quite even, and no gap !  It’s also probably less intimidating than the previous method. Tell me what you think !

4/ ONE SINGLE CROCHET + ONE CHAIN:

This method starts exactly but then you replaced the 2nd sc (foundation sc) with a simple chain. Which makes it somehow halfway between the stacked sc and the basic ch3 methods…

At the beginning of a row, work 1 single crochet in the first stitch, as indicated by an arrow.

Then work 1 chain over the single crochet. You get a “stitch” that roughly looks like a dc, without the extra width of the stacked sc.

At the end of the row, work the last dc in the chain at the top of the “stacked sc and chain”.

Here again, the resulting fabric has clean edges, with rather symetric ends.

5/ MAMACHEE’s CHOICE:

Tara Murray – aka Mamachee – blogged about  another technique, which is actually a variant of the basic chain3.

To avoid the unsighltly gap between the initial ch3 and following dc while achieving neat edges, she works

• 2 chains & 1 dc in the very first stitch of the row ( = 2 sts)
• 2 dc in the last stitch of the row ( 2 dc closed together)

In this case, you work 2 stitches in each edge stitch = perfect symetry.

Here’s a step by step tutorial:

At the beginning of a row, simply chain 2, and work 1 double crochet in the SAME stitch. Then work the next dc in the next st… ect.

At the end of a row, work a mini-cluster of (2 dc in the same stitch and closed together). The fact that we jammed 2 sts in 1 both at the beginning and the end of each row means that our swatch is growing wider with this method, as you can see in the 2nd picture.

True, the edges are clean and symmetric. BUT this method will impact the final width of your work. Tara recommended it for a blanket, and that’s probably a good idea to reserve it for projects where final measurements don’t matter so much.

6/ CONCLUSION…

As I did in the previous episodes, you can separate each method by a line of surface crochet: hold the contrasting color yarn UNDER work (on WS) and work a line of loose slip stitch in between 2 rows.

And so, the conclusion you’ll ask ? Well I ask you. I’m sure nearly every crocheter will have a different opinion depending on how they crochet, what they crochet, their habits and the level of detail they like.

Which method do YOU prefer ? And why ? We’d love to know.

As for myself, it depends.  I’m not very picky and tend to stick to the old ch3 counting as first stitch for many projects, especially if a final crocheted edging will hide any existing gap.

For special projects for which I really want neat edges though, I often use the chainless starting dc.

IN my patterns though I always keep the “ch3, which counts as first stitch” convention because I assume that’s what’s most people are used to. And I KNOW that those who use alternative methods will easily translate it into their own favorite method.

Now I want to hear about YOU: what’s your favorite method and why ? Do you know of any other method I didn’t mention here ? If you do, please leave a comment so I can add it here to make this list as complete as possible !

*************************************************

Find out more about all there is to know about the DOUBLE CROCHET with the other episodes of the DC Project:

DC project Episode 1 – learn to crochet double crochet in both loops, dc in front loop, dc in back loop and surface crochet
DC project Episode 2 – differences between double crochet in both loops, dc in front and back loop
DC project Episode 3 – learn to crochet dc in the third loop, front post and back post double crochet
DC project Episode 4 – differences between double crochet in third loop, front post and back post dc 4
DC project Episode 5 – learn to crochet cables
DC project Episode 6 – learn to crochet double crochet in between sts, linked dc and extended dc
DC project Episode 7 – conclusions about double crochet in between sts, linked dc and extended dc
DC project Episode 8 – alternatives to the ch3 to start a row of double crochet

What ?!! … I can’t believe I never showed my finished “Comp�re Loup” !

 
I made him last year, using a fantastic pattern from french crochet designer Anisbee. (Warning – pattern only available in french)
With such a name, and published nearly at the same time as I published my Loup hooded jacket, I just HAD to make one !

]
Little projects like this are perfect to add details, like the spike stitch sweater and long hood to match nearly exactly my own Loup jacket… and even different colored eyes !

TECH
Pattern: Comp�re Loup by Anisbee (in french only)
Yarn: Remnants of Lett Lopi yarn from my Loup jacket
Hook: 3.75 mm (F) Susan Bates crochet hook
Mods: added a long hood based on my hooded jackets, and left out the tail. It was just too busy otherwise.
If I ever make it again: I’d use a slightly larger hook as it was really fiddly with this one, esp. with the dark grey yarn !

Do you love to crochet sweaters ? or maybe you’re thinking of enhancing your crochet skills and trying to make your first sweater ?

But sometimes following a pattern and counting your stitches gets so boooring

or finding the “right yarn” matching gauge is a pain

or maybe the pattern you like doesn’t come in the right size ..?

This is where SaperliPOPette! comes right in: SO much more than a simple crochet pattern, this simple and innovative method allows you to crochet a POP boxy/oversized sweater to fit YOUR body perfectly !

• Use virtually ANY YARN (haven’t tried the extremes of fingering weight or super bulky.. but feel free to experiment)
• Make it in ANY SIZE from kids sizes to women’s sizes XS to L-XL
• Plus sizes should work too, but final look may be slightly different (placement of sleeves, look of lower body)

And the best part ? No complicated math, only one arm measurement is needed…
All the “hard” work will be done by trying it on yourself often. :-)

Get this pattern now  on ETSY – RAVELRY – CRAFTSY !

TECH:
– This sweater is meant to be oversized and slighlty cropped.
– Worked top-down in one piece, you’ll be able to customize it to your own requirements and make it longer if desired.
– Features pretty Puffs along shoulders, and on bottom of body and 3/4 sleeves.
– Pattern is 14 pages long with tons of step-by-step pictures, charts and shematics
– US crochet terms used, with UK equivelents given

Get this pattern now  on ETSY – RAVELRY – CRAFTSY !

This pattern/system/recipe was thoroughly tested by many testers (special thks to Maria & Trish for their pretty photos used here)

That’s it.

The contest to win 6 beautiful ergonomic hooks
– 4 Tulip Etimo Rose hooks 
– 2 Prym Soft hooks
is now officially over ! Let’s see which photo won…

To enter the contest, all was needed was to share a picture of your swatch(es) crocheted following an Episode of the DC project, to explore all the variants of my favorite crochet stitch, the Double Crochet !
But first, let’s have a look at all the swatches entered in the contest, and feedback from the crocheters who made them:

PHOTOS 1 & 2
Anne Linage followed �pisodes 1 and 3 to crochet her swatches
– dc in both loops, dc in the front loop and dc in the back loop
– dc in both loops, dc in the 3rd loop, front post and back post dc:
She said “J’aime beaucoup le rendu de la troisi�me partie tout en haut.” (= I really like the look of the dc in the front loop)
“Pas tr�s fan des gros reliefs, ce que je pr�f�re c’est la deuxi�me partie en partant du bas” (= Not a huge fan of the relief stitches, the one I prefer is the dc in the 3rd loop)

PHOTOS 3 to 6
Confituralamure followed every single episode of the dc project, and made a looong swatch showing each series !
– dc in both loops, dc in the front loop and dc in the back loop
– dc in both loops, dc in the 3rd loop, front post and back post dc
– dc in between stitches, linked dc, extended dc
– crocheted cables
She wrote about the whole experience on her (french) blog, and basically even though she’s a designer herself it seems she was shocked by the difference many of those variants made:

“Premier choc, comme une cruche, je m’attendais � un r�sultat identique sur les brides brin avant et brin arri�re. Que nenni ! (..)
Deuxi�me choc, je n’avais jamais pens� � piquer dans ce que Sylvie appelle le 3�me brin, le petit brin sous les 2 v. C’est pas super facile � faire au d�but, mais �a donne un chouette effet, comme une lisi�re de mailles coul�es. A essayer et � utiliser en d�co.
Troisi�me choc, un peu comme pour la bride piqu�e dans le brin avant ou brin arri�re, je pensais que la bride relief avant ou relief arri�re allaient me donner le m�me r�sultat, ben non. Enfin si, la diff�rence est moindre que pour le brin avant brin arri�re, mais on voit clairement une diff�rence, au moins de taille. Surprenant. Du coup, je suis perplexe pour l’emploi des brides en relief sur les carr�s granny par exemple. La sym�trie n’est pas heu… sym�trique !
Quatri�me choc, la bride li�e. Mais qu’est ce donc que cette b�te l� ??? Ben c’est nouveau, �a vient d’sortir. Enfin, certainement pas pour tout le monde, mais pour moi, si. Et le r�sultat est jouli jouli !! Je m’en reservirai, c’est s�r et certo.”

PHOTO 7
Kims Colorway tried the dc in both loops, dc in the front loop and in the back loop with episode 1.
” Very interesting! I never thought of that before! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.” 

PHOTO 8
Marie Juglair followed episode 6 for her swatch: she crocheted the dc in both loops, linked dc, dc in between stitches and extended dc.
“J’aime bien la bride li�e qui donne un effet bien serr� et qui permet de ne pas doubler si on fait une pochette (car je ne ma�trise pas bien la couture…)”
= I like the linked dc which has a tight look and allows to skip the lining if making a bag (as I don’t master sewing very well)

PHOTO 9
Sandrine Campana crocheted dc in both loops, dc in the front loop and dc in the back loop following episode 1 of the DC project.

And now… Bam !
I entered the data in the “Random number generator” and:

The winner is photo 8: Marie Juglair. Bravo !!
(please send me your adress and I’ll send the crochet hooks)

Back from 10 days of holidays in the south of France. Perfect timing to finish my “Ariane cardigan” by Peggy Grand and finally add some buttons (on the “men’s side” but oh well, who will ever notice ?!).

I love the mesh rows in the top section, and would you believe it’s my first time ever trying Pineapple crochet ?
So easy, and yet the result is so pretty !

The very wide neck is the perfect occasion to couple it with my new Dancing Marguerites shawl..

This project took a looong time to complete, over 6 months ! It’s been sitting in our living-room all winter, and I’d alternate between this and all my other ongoing projects.

Thing is, the pattern is free but full of errors and lack of precisions. After starting a few rows, I ripped it all back to setup row and started using removable stitch markers to locate the raglan increases instead. Worked like a breeze.

I also wanted to add long sleeves, so the “improvisation” part might also explain how long this took… But so glad I did, I like cozy and warm sweaters, feeling always cold !

Loved making this though. Not so much because I learned new things but because it puts all the things I already know about crochet in a different perspective. Generating new ideas… Including my newest “Saperlipopette” boxy sweater and its innovative system to crochet a sweater in any size with any yarn which will be published very soon!

TECH:

– Pattern: Ariane cardigan, free pattern in french & english by Peggy Grand
– Yarn: 2 strands of thin coned yarn held together, 1 plum acrylic blend, 1 chestnut mohair blend
– Hook: 5 mm Susan Bates crochet hook
– Mods: added long sleeves, added a lower edging using 1 repeat of top motif, made the pineapple section longer.
– If I ever make it again: I’d make the top body section longer as it ends right in the middle of my bust and I’d prefer to cover all the bust section.

How about a fun and fresh project for the spring ?

Dig out some of the prettiest balls of yarn from your stash and crochet away !  This shawl is worked sideways in one piece, starting with the narrow end.

Some of the reasons why you’ll love making this shawl :

• it’s worked in dc in the front loop for beautiful drape (and less yarn used)
• features a pretty and delicate Marguerite floral motif (full photo tutorial and chart included)
• totally unique Dancing Poppies edging along one side of shawlette

Oh, and wait, there’s more:

• Instructions are written to make this with ANY yarn you want.
• Just work as many repeats as desired and stop when you run out of yarn or reach the desired size for your shawlette. How does that sound ?!

A dream to make and wear…

Pattern is now on ETSY & RAVELRY !