Summer Crochet

I'm wilting. 

I have not been dealing with the summer heat all that well. Terribly, in fact. The thing is, it's not truly that hot. So, I don't have much sympathy for myself here. 

(We've been in the upper 80s and lower 90s. Fahrenheit, of course. Mostly 80s. I mean, if we were spending a lot of time in the 90s and getting into the 100s, then I could understand. But this is pretty standard summer here, so why it's bothering me so much is also annoying me.) 

Which is to say that I'm not making loads of progress on the crochet front. Although, considering the time of year and what I'm normally getting accomplished right about now, I'm positively industrious. 

I added a couple rounds to the first side: 

and a few more rounds to the second: 

Right now they're practically the same size (which is why the first side got some more rounds). They're both wavy, but I think a couple rounds of no increases will tame that out of them a bit. I've decided that they're not wavy enough for me to rip them out again. 

I've gotten to the point where I'm just adjusting every round. I lay it flat. Look at it. And decide if it's feeling ruffly. Then it gets an "even round" (no increases). If it feels flat and the round I just did is curling up, then it gets an "increase round" (I increase every X number of stitches--X is one more than the last "increase round" I did). 

I've decided that since this is going to be for a woman, and women have curves, the bit of ruffle is just so that it'll conform to her curves. 

So, that's where I'm at now. It's going to be slow going for a bit. But then I'll hit the point where it's as big as it needs to get, and then things will get interesting. I hope.

I hope things aren't blazing hot where you are. Ah, the joys of summer. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome
• The Wavy Second Side
• Which Way Now?
• Vacation Crochet
• Modifications
• Pondering

Pondering

I'm a little further along on the second side of the sweater: 

For comparison, last week: 

And the week before that: 

And before this I had ripped the whole thing out and started over. So, I've made decent progress. 

Now I have some decisions to make. It's almost back to the size of the first side: 

And, as I mentioned last week, sister-in-law doesn't remember exactly what she asked me for, so I have a little lot of leeway in how I put this thing together. 

The first thing I need to do is to get the second side as big as the first. Then, it's a question of how much bigger, or do I start to square it all off? 

What would be really helpful would be a working day where the kiddos have plenty of work to do, and I have paper and a pencil to sketch ideas. Alas, it's still summer. So, I might get these ovals to about the size I want and then get stuck for a bit. 

This Christmas present is already seven months late, so what's another month or two? (Her birthday's the end of September, so no one mention how it could become a future gift. Those deadlines would just unnerve me.) 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome
• The Wavy Second Side
• Which Way Now?
• Vacation Crochet
• Modifications

Modifications

I'm still in Ohio, visiting family. (I leave tomorrow.) 

We've done a few road trips. We've spent some time just hanging out. And I've done a little crochet...

I'm not quite where I was when I ripped it all out, but I'm getting closer. And it's not nearly as ripply. (For comparison, before...)

So, progress. 

(I should probably mention that sister-in-law doesn't entirely recall the conversation we had a year ago when she described what she wanted me to make her, so I've kind of been released from making this whole thing an oval. Before I leave, we're going to measure this against her, and then I might just square things off to make the whole thing simpler. Or not. We'll see how I proceed from here.)

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome
• The Wavy Second Side
• Which Way Now?
• Vacation Crochet

Vacation Crochet

Last week I made the decision (while writing last Monday's post) to rip out that second side and start over. I got it fully frogged and restarted when it was finally time to leave. And while I did some work on it on the plane, I'm not quite to where it was before I ripped it out. 

(Sorry about the background. I did not pack my off-white fabric that I use for photos.) 

Ta-da! Flat. 

Of course, I ended up ripping it back a bit on the first leg of my flight. And when I arrived. But I've still made some solid progress. 

Now I'm eyeing the first side...

I may rip it back a couple rounds. I'm not sure. I'll see how it goes. 

My sister-in-law is impressed with it thus far. I'm not sure how I'm going to make it sweater-shaped, but that's not at issue at the moment. Getting this oval to lie flat is. But at least I got some good feedback. 

My crochet companions so far have been Shadow...

...who became fascinated with the yarn and leapt on it (and on me). I yelped and jumped. His claws were out, but he didn't scratch me. 

And then there was Delilah...

...who basically just wants attention. 

I haven't gotten pictures of Winter or Calliope (the other cats) or Artemis (the other dog) yet. It's been a timing thing. 

So, sort of progress, but since I'm out of town and not on my usual schedule, I don't know how much I'm actually going to accomplish. But hey, I didn't leave it at home, so it will be more than if I had left the yarn behind. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome
• The Wavy Second Side
• Which Way Now?

Which Way Now?

The wavy second side? Still wavy. 

The first side is heading towards lettuce, too.

And right now both are about the same size. Woo-hoo! 

But now I have a dilemma. Do I rip back the second side in an effort to tame the wave? Or do I wait? 

Normally, I would have ripped this back days ago. But in three days I'm getting on a plane, and I'll see the recipient of the finished sweater (whenever it actually gets finished). And at that time, I can measure it against her. 

Although, I have hours on a plane. With nothing to do. I might just have the time to redo what I rip out... 

I mean, I was trying to make sure the second side followed the increase pattern of the first, but we saw how that came out. I could instead just do what I did for the first, and see how flat it lies as I figure out which increases to do. 

The more I write this out, the more I like this plan. It makes sense. 

My mind is whirling. While I may talk myself out of this, it's more likely that by the time you read this, that second side will be completely frogged, and I'll be working my way back. 

As I'll be travelling, next Monday's post may or may not be up-to-date. (I've written most of the posts for while I'm away. I'll be checking in. But Monday's posts may or may not appear. I haven't decided yet.) 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome
• The Wavy Second Side

The Wavy Second Side

Last week I showed the start of the second back/front of the reluctant sweater: 

This week: 

And you will notice the lettuce-ing. I followed the exact same increase pattern that I used for the other front/back, and yet... 

So, do I rip it back? Or do I keep going? 

I'm just going to keep going. Because I figure once washing and doing some blocking, it should be mostly flat. (Maybe not, but I'm going to live in that delusion for a while.) 

I worked a couple more rounds on the first side:

(See how flat that lies? Not quite perfectly flat, but close. Same increases. *shakes head*)

Both are almost the same size:

When I look at these, they remind me of amethyst geodes. That might become the official name of this sweater (although I'm still calling it the reluctant sweater to myself). And yes, this is purple. It may appear blueish on your screen. (There's something about purple, digital photography, and screen settings.) But purple. Just sayin'.

So, more plugging away. That's the plan for now. Hopefully they'll travel. More about that next week. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome

Second Sock Syndrome

I've been working away on SIL's "Christmas" present. (Can you still call it a Christmas present when you didn't even start working on it until five months after said Christmas?) And things are going pretty well:

It's getting a little lettuce-y, but I can rip one round back. If I increase every other round, upping the distance between increases by one every other round rather than every third round (and the in-between rounds having no increases), it'll probably be okay. 

It's getting pretty big. It's about 19 inches across and about 15 inches top to bottom. I'm a little over halfway to my goal. 

And I realized I was getting a bit antsy. 

Have you heard of second sock syndrome? It's a knitting term, but it applies here. It's when a knitter finishes one sock (or mitten or sleeve), and then realizes that they must make another, exactly the same (or with opposite shaping). Deep sigh. 

There are many knitters (and crocheters) who never quite get around to that second sock, hence the syndrome. 

This week I realized I was going to have to make a second oval. I mean, I knew this, of course. One for the front of the sweater, one for the back. And I've been keeping notes as to how I've been increasing because I want to replicate this exactly for my second side. But suddenly it felt like it was going to be a lot of work. 

So, I decided rather than wait, I could start the second side now. 

So, yeah, the variegated yarn started at a different spot in the striping, but I'm good with front and back being different, color-wise. Starting these is easier as each round is so much shorter. I should make good progress for a bit. At least, until this front (or back, not sure which is which yet) gets to be the same size as the other.

I'm not sure if this is just going to make everything take twice as long or if this is genius. 

Well, both have to get done at some point. Why not at the same time?

Progress is happening. And once these are big enough, then I have to figure out how to connect them, how to add sleeves, and how to make this whole thing sweater-shaped. 

Problems for another time. Later. Now, it's oval time.

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases

Watching the Increases

Where I'm at:

After I saw you last week, I ripped back a bunch of rounds from this: 

And then I redid them with a different increase system. As you can see, the top image lies flat. Which is want I wanted.

I don't know if you can see that the last round of the top image is curling inward. Last night, when I got to about there, I had to rip back a round as it was starting the wavy of the second image. I crocheted that round again but without increases. 

Because I don't have a pattern I'm working off of, I'm just keeping an eye on the piece as I complete each round. If it's starting to ruffle, then I have to rip back. That curl for an even round is okay as it'll flatten in the next round when I do more increases. 

I've made progress. And it's going so much quicker now that I'm not just staring at it wondering how to start. I've even started wondering about how I'm going to make it sweater-shaped eventually. But that's a ways off at the moment. 

For now, my next round will be an increase every sixth stitch. An increase is when I crochet two double crochets into the same stitch. As long as that lies flat, I'll continue the increase system I've been using.

I've been keeping notes as I will have to make another just like this for the front/back (not sure which side this one is going to be when it's all said and done). 

Suddenly I'm not so reluctant about the sweater. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins

And It Begins

I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is I have to rip most of this out: 

The good news? Look at how far I got! I've finally cracked the Reluctant Sweater. 

If you've been following along, you know that I barely got the oval started at all. And this was in April. 

But I did a funny thing this week. I actually sat down and watched the crochet oval video (that I linked to in this post) all the way through. When I found it, I hadn't done more than quickly preview it. It looked like the right shape. Once I took the time to sit down with it, I knew it was what I wanted to try. 

And look how far I got! It's almost perfect. 

The issue? See how that oval doesn't lie quite flat? It kind of lettuces out (not a real crochet term). It means the increases are increasing too fast in the outer rounds. My mistake was listening to the video saying that the increases continued in the same way as the thing gets bigger. 

I know how to make a flat crochet circle. You increase every round by the same number. So, if you start with eight stitches, you increase eight stitches for each round, but only eight stitches. 

The video had us increasing every other stitch for every round. That doubles the number of increases every round. So, eight increases becomes 16, becomes 32, becomes 64... 

I ripped that back and started doing the increases the way I know they should be done, but I don't think I ripped back far enough. And I'm wondering if I should do a round even between each increase round. 

Minor irritations. That above oval? That's only a few hours of work. Once I have the increasing formula figured out, it'll be smooth sailing until it's as big as I need it. (That's when other issues will crop up, but I'll worry about those when I get there.) 

I'm thrilled. Now that I know what to do, I can do it. It's the figuring out what to do that flummoxes me. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research

Planning and Research

Did I touch the yarn last week? That would again be a no.

But, I really need to get going on some sort of project. Hopefully this week won't be as enervating as last week was. 

I did pull out my start: 

And I thought about ripping it back. The turning the circle into an oval didn't quite work out mathematically. It's a simple process where at one end I make the tallest stitch I can, and then I step them down into the shortest stitch. Then I build back up. And repeat for the second side. 

Somehow I ended up a stitch short. 

Of course, since I'm not doing an eye here, I could just start with an oval...

This is the thing that makes designing hard. So many choices. And I'm not sure what I want to do. So, today I'm just looking through some ideas to see what might spark. 

The original eye I found on this video: 

The only issue with this sweater is that this designer then squared off the oval and turned it into a square. The picture my niece found had a sweater that stayed kind of circular. And my sister-in-law wants me to duplicate that shape. 

So, why don't I just duplicate niece's sweater? Sister-in-law is a different size. 

I then ran across this video: 

Which is fun. But, I don't have two colors, and again, she squared things up at the end. 

Or I could just start with an oval: 

But how do I keep the oval going? I did a lot of guesswork on niece's sweater. Oh, here's something that might help (funny what I find when I start looking): 

But I rather like the idea of starting with a circle, elongating it so it becomes an oval, and then keeping the oval going until the piece is as big as I want it. 

So, decisions made. It's amazing how writing it out does help. 

I'll rip back to the circle, and then sit down and get that circle turned into an oval. And keep the oval going. Which was what I had planned in the first place, but I'm having some trouble executing it. 

In case you weren't around two years ago, this is the sweater that I made for my niece: 

And this was the picture she found that she wanted me to duplicate: 

Wish me luck figuring out the oval part.

Questionable Quality

Now that eldest nephew's sweater is complete, it is time for me to start on my last project for last Christmas. (I mean, it's been in the planning stages since last summer. I even wrote about it. Once.) 

Yeah, I've been avoiding it. 

My sister-in-law requested a purple version of the eye sweater I made for her daughter. (This was my big project for 2024. This is the last post with links to all the posts I wrote about it.) 

And... I just don't wanna do it. There. I said it. 

I never felt fully comfortable with the eye sweater. Niece found a photo of what she wanted. I could not find a pattern to go with it. I found something close, but it didn't have the curve at the hem that Liv wanted. So, I faked it. And I hated faking it. 

Was it close? Did I get the right colors? Is that two rounds or three? Should I make this bigger? Does it need more of a curve? Does it need less of a curve? 

I still feel residual stress from the thing. 

And now I have to do it again. 

Only, this time, I'm basing it off the thing I made. Which I have the notes for. I wrote down what I did, just in case I had to replicate it. 

I found those notes a few months ago. And I put them someplace to find easily. And now I can't find them. (Although, I typed them out in 2024. And then in January I turned them into a note that I put on my phone. So, I do have them.) 

It's time to woman up and get this thing done. On Saturday (after two weeks of no knitting/crochet when I had time but just chose not to start) I pulled up the video (that I used to make the eye to start) and started crocheting. And... 

I don't like it. 

It's not coming out oval enough. It's curling. I'm going to redo it. 

That's maybe an hour of work, so no big loss. Getting the oval to oval isn't quite working out. But I need to start with an oval so that the hem curves. 

Deep sigh. 

For me, getting started is the hardest part. I have the yarn. I have a project bag. I started the oval. I can do this. 

Note: I know you all mean well and just want to encourage me, but "you can do it" or "it looks great" sort of thing in the comments is not going to encourage me at all. It's just going to make me feel worse. So, unless you want to trigger me, please avoid telling me how talented a crocheter I am. Because I am not. 

Now, how do I make this fit Q for A to Z? I have no idea. (That's kind of a theme this week.) I mean, you already know, but I don't. Yet. 

What color would you want this disaster of a sweater in? Have you ever had a project that you just did not want to do? What's the best Q-title you've done for A to Z? (My absolute favorite A to Z Q-post was "Quinceanera and Sweet Sixteen".) 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

The Next Projects

And I had yet another non-yarn week. It was too hot. I was too busy (and tired). And I got sucked into the show Shining Girls on Apple TV Plus, which took the only mental energy I had. 

So, at the risk of not having anything to show you next week, I'm going to catch you up with some things I had done a couple weeks ago. 

Remember Random Beanie? I started another: 

I haven't gotten very far, but it'll go quickly when I have some time to devote to it. 

Then, I never mentioned my sister-in-law when I gave the rundown of what family had requested for Christmas. She requested a purple version of niece's eye sweater. I found the perfect variegated purple for it:

Luckily, I wrote down exactly what I did for niece's sweater. But SIL is a different size, and she wants hers longer as well. I'm putting off starting on this for a while, but at least I have the yarn. 

How's the weather where you're at? Is it knitting weather yet? 

The Minecraft Collection

As I mentioned (several times), I went to visit the family in Ohio last week. I brought along the Zombie. 

He joined Enderman...

And Creeper...

With the twins...

Can you believe they're 12 now? Yikes. (Here's the last time their pictures appeared on the blog.) 

And now I have a new project, or rather, projects. Christmas. I asked for requests, and now I have four sweaters to knit. Sigh. (I don't expect to finish them all in time for Christmas, and I told them so.) Of course I'll write about them as they progress. 

I don't know if I collected all the posts for these in one place, so it's about time I did that: 

• Explaining the Project
• New Project Loading...
• A Head in the Game
• And Then There Were Two
• Zombie Time
• Zombie Body
• Crunch Time
• A Finished Zombie

A Finished Zombie

I am writing today's post on July 1st, before I leave on my trip. Because I can announce that I finished the Zombie from Minecraft amigurumi last night. Woo-hoo!

If I wasn't on deadline (getting it done before going to Ohio so I could gift it to the twins in person), I probably would have taken a bit more time in assembling it. But all in all, I'm happy with how it turned out. 

My return plane trip is today. My flight doesn't leave until the afternoon, and the time zones will be with me instead of against me, but it's likely I won't be online much if at all today. I'll catch up with everyone tomorrow. 

Previous Zombie posts: 

• Zombie Time
• Zombie Body
• Crunch Time

Crunch Time

I get on a plane bound for Ohio on Wednesday, so I'd better get this zombie thing done. 

(I know they say that one shouldn't announce when one is going out of town because of burglaries. And that makes sense. But, I have roommates. And they're not going anywhere. So, as my home won't be vacant while I'm gone, I'm not worried about being open about being out of town.) 

Last week I had the body done. This week I managed to finish off the head and arms...

Those need to be stuffed, sewn up, and attached to the body...

Then there's a spear or shovel or something that goes with him. Will I finish in time? I think so, but likely with no time to spare. 

(Sure, I could perhaps finish it up once I arrive in Ohio. Maybe. We'll see how much I have left to do if it comes to that.) 

Previous Zombie posts: 

• Zombie Time
• Zombie Body

Zombie Body

Last week I showed the progress I made on the amigurumi Minecraft Zombie. I got a bit further this week:

This isn't too bad considering I had to rip out and redo a couple days' worth of work. I had used the wrong color for the shirt (a darker turquoise), and then I ran out of yarn. 

But, ripping out wasn't so easy as I had wound in some ends on the inside (from attaching the legs at the crotch) up into where I had to rip out. It wasn't too terrible once I got into it, but it was more work than I expected, especially as I'm on a deadline. Oh well. 

The above is the front view. That's legs and body. It isn't stuffed yet. Then I'll sew up that top flap. A head will go on top. Arms will be attached to the sides. 

Here's the back view: 

I'm not too worried about my deadline as of yet. We'll see how things go this week. 

And here's a link to the pattern I'm using. 

Zombie Time

I am going to visit my brother and family in Ohio at the beginning of July. And this week it occurred to me that it might be time to finish the third Minecraft critter. If I can get it finished before I leave, I won't have to mail it later. 

So, last week I managed to get the legs complete: 

Considering that I started this Thursday, I'm quite content with my progress. I'm only worried that the relative sizes are so wildly different. (Each critter was made using a pattern by a different designer.) But this wasn't well planned out anyway. 

For context, the first Minecraft critter, the Creeper, was a joke with regards to a Christmas present from my brother. When asked, the twins said that rather than getting a second Creeper, they would like an Enderman and/or a Zombie. I found the pattern for the Enderman, and I finished that in February. And then I set everything aside. 

Well, it's not like I'm really working on anything at the moment...

So, I found this pattern for the Zombie. And I'm making do with the yarn I have on hand, sort of. (I had to break down and buy some green yarn as I don't have enough green shades.) The blue in the pic? Yeah, the blue was supposed to be navy blue. That is not a navy blue. 

It'll do. It's something to keep my hands busy while I figure out what I'm going to do with my dragons and my tote bag idea. 

Leftover Yarn

I went ahead and burned my usual Monday post on Saturday with my finished (without face) cat pillow. Had to be done. I'm not sure how I would have titled that post today, but "Kitty Cat" was sitting right there. I would have been an idiot not to use it. 

Which leaves me with nothing to post about today. And, I am once again without project. Sigh. 

I really need to get a case of start-itis. That's when one has many ideas, so one pulls out yarn, collects patterns, and casts on a bunch of projects at once. I could use a bunch of projects sitting around right about now. But, alas, nope. I have one lone project waiting for me, that I might eventually get to.

So, what to do? 

Well, I could do another cat pillow. I still have blanket yarn. 

Not quite enough for a cat in any of these (well, maybe the white variegated), but perhaps another two-toned cat? 

Last week I had a tote bag idea. I don't have enough yarn on hand for what I'm envisioning (and I'm not buying yarn for this), but I could do multi-colors. 

Yes, that's red, purple, magenta, and orange. Together. Maybe? Maybe not. Just thinking about it right now. (And if you go through all the posts I've done where I was thinking about something, I suspect only about half of them got finished projects out of them.) 

Then again, I've got nibling birthdays coming up. Twins on the 25th. Middle nephew May 4th. And niece in June. Perhaps I should ask them if they want me to knit or crochet them anything. I probably shouldn't have waited this long to ask the twins. 

Anyone have any good ideas? I've got spring break this week, so I have some time to put some projects together. 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Kitty Cat Complete

I normally would post my yarn-y post on Monday, but this worked too well for the letter of the day today, so...

If you were here Monday, you saw my fail. The hole for the tail for the crocheted cat pillow was in the entirely wrong place. It took me a surprisingly short amount of time to fix that (as in, one afternoon). I ripped it all out to the tail hole and then restitched everything. 

The tail is now placed correctly. And I rather like how it turned out.

Hopefully it now looks like a cat.

I'm debating embroidering on a face. I'm terrible at embroidery, and I'm not even sure where to start. (The pattern doesn't offer embroidery ideas, only the concept that a face could be added if desired.) But I rather like it like this. 

Even the change in yarn at the rear looks okay. At least, I think so.

Now, what to do with the thing? I have no use for it. Any ideas? 

Kitty Cat previous posts: 

• Yarn Under my Fingers
• Not Quite a Cat
• Leaving the Mistakes
• Feline Fail

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Feline Fail

Last week... Ah, last week. I had such plans... 

I was sure I was just about done with the cat. I was even willing to overlook a mistake that I caught. I even said, "I can't see the difference, so I'm not going to worry about it." 

Very, very stupid. 

You see, what I had done was to join the rounds wrong. Now, in knitting this isn't a problem. But in crochet, beginnings of rounds drift. The way the pattern said to join the rounds compensated for that drift. But, alas, this was in the notes of the pattern, not in the round by round instructions. 

I started this in October. I worked on it one day. Then I set it down again until March. 

When I picked it up again, I continued where I left off in the round by round instructions. I had forgotten the note in the beginning about how the rounds were supposed to be joined. And I didn't bother to look. 

I didn't see the mistake last week. However, once I attached the tail...

The tail is right of center in the above image. It just looks wrong. (It also has too much stuffing in it, but that's an easy fix.) Here's the back view...

The tail is wrong. Very wrong.

So, I've got to rip it out and fix it. Deep sigh.

Hopefully I'll get to that this week. Now, to figure out how to make that post fit L-day... 

The cat posts so far: 

• Yarn Under my Fingers
• Not Quite a Cat
• Leaving the Mistakes

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter