2019 Sweater School

Sweater #1

My sweater journey began a few years ago. I had just completed my first gig with Leisure Arts Vests: The Long and Short.

These garments were right within my skill level because… no sleeves. And vests have simple shaping as well.

I wanted to grow in my garment skills, so I picked up Dora Ohrenstein’s Custom Crocheted Sweaters and soon after I dove into her Top-Down Crochet Sweaters book.

Pictured above is my first sweater from the Custom Crocheted Sweaters book – Floating Tee. I love this design and it’s a great first-time garment project. The lace design is not for beginners, but if you’ve followed any stitch pattern before, this shouldn’t be too difficult. There is zero shaping. The shape is exactly what the name suggests – a tee.

I’m assuming most makers have short attention-spans (like me) so make the smallest size possible. You could whip one of these up in a weekend, no problem!

Since crochet stitches are thicker than knit stitches, it is imperative that you use a light-weight, high quality yarn. If you use cheap acrylic, your garment will look boxy. You don’t need to spend $20/skein. Just find something that feels nice and has a great drape.

I went stash-diving for this project. The white side is Madelintosh Tosh Merino Light in “Antler”. The other side’s dark section is Tosh Merino Light in “Panther” and the top lighter section is Blue Sky Fibers Alpaca Silk in “Ice”. What I love about this design – it’s reversible! There is no shaping – you make the two sides of the garment, then sew them together. I prefer the side with the two colors – I just love the look of it.

These photos of my friend’s two year old make my heart ache – I made this sweater to fit my daughter a few years ago. She is about to turn 7 and could never wear this!

This design was easier than I expected. And even more simple than some of the vests I designed. A few of those had shaping around the arm and neck openings; this “Floating Tee” went straight up and out then the sewing created the openings. So easy!

I do feel a little bit like Julie making those first couple recipes – the ones that went well and came out of the oven without a hitch. Will the rest of the sweaters be this simple?

Until next time,

Abbey

Sample Sale

I know ya’ll are makers and may not need/want ready-made items, but designers start to collect quite the stash of samples from design work. I’m selling the ones I didn’t keep or gift. They are priced from $5 – $20.

Shop here

Cowls & Beanies in the Shop

I have so many colors to choose from – So have fun picking your favorites!

Shop here

Firefly Hook CALs

If you are on Facebook, come join The Firefly Creatives a group where we offer CALs, pattern support and FUN!

CALs coming soon:

All CAL patterns are free if I have retained the rights to the designs. I no longer have the rights to the sock book (but I get royalties! yay!). So to join this CAL, you’ll have to purchase the book on your own. This CAL will be a “choose your own adventure” – You can pick any design from the book to work on! There are socks with heels, tube socks and yoga socks (without heels) and legwarmers! And the yarns vary as well: sock weight – worsted weight! So don’t let the word “sock” scare you away from this CAL!

https://www.leisurearts.com/make-fun-socks.html

Happy crocheting!

xoxo,

Abbey