Pattern Books

I tend to be a pattern creator, rather than a pattern follower. I like love to read patterns, but rarely to they meet my criteria for actually buying yarn to do the project. What is my criteria?

• I would wear/use or expect someone else to wear/use the finished result.
• The yarn can be flexible (i.e. doesn't require XX type from XX brand, otherwise will NOT drape/wear/look good). It's a rare occurrence that I want to make something from the EXACT yarn as the pattern creator.
• It has to be interesting. You can only make so many rows of standard double crochet. At some point they have to criss cross, or you have to throw in a treble or something. The yarn has to be REALLY sexy for just one stitch to be enough to keep my interest while making or wearing the item. Yes, I just called yarn sexy (or at least capable of being sexy)...

That said, imagine my surprise when today at Michael's I found a book of Plus Size Crochet Fashions that I actually had no problem plunking down $10 for. I have never bought a crochet book for patterns for me, because usually, they look like this:

Which is great... if you want to look like a "business lady" from 1987. If, let's say, you'd like to look like a stylish mum-of-all-trades from now? You'd be better off with this book:

OK, the cover isn't great... but, the patterns are. The book is Plus Size Fashions by Annie's Attic Crochet.

One thing is certain, my next project for me is coming from this book.

The Shrug

I've been knitting a bit lately, as my current crochet project (which will be featured soon) is huge and sometimes I just need a break. I'm calling it YCADD (yarn crafting ADD) but in reality it's just boring to crochet the body of a 3x top down sweater. All the hard work is done and it's just wash, rinse, repeat for enough rows to cover the belly. So, when the boredom strikes I turn to knitting a small project to break it up.

The most recent small project was a shrug for my nine month old niece. The pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting - Outside the Lines. For the most part I found it to be a fun and quick little number to put together. I'm a slooow knitter. At least it feels that way, because I'm a fast crocheter. So little is important. I am going to tackle a top down sweater for me in the knit soon, though. Tangent! So, like I was saying, knitting shrug for niece to break up boredom.

The sleeves run even with the bottom of the shrug and the edging creates a little turn down collar.

It was a really fun and fast project. I love instant gratification! The little cable at the raglan seam was perfect and between that and the moss stitch border and seed stitch edgings it kept me very engaged.

On the other hand... there are things I would change were I doing it again (and I might). Firstly, the sizing in the pattern is off. I made a gauge swatch and found I needed to use smaller needles to match their stitch count. however, after knitting a couple of inches it looked like I was making a sweater for a Barbie doll. So, I switched back to the larger needles, still much too small. So, I used the "4 year old" size instructions with the size 5 needles and came up with a shrug that just fits my nine month old niece. Mind you, she is a little porker and wears 12m-18m clothing. But, you see the size was still way off.

Really, Minta, YOU are going to call ME a porker? If that isn't the pot and the kettle...

Also, I think it would fit better if a few stitches were cast on under the arm. It's a little pinched at the bottom. Maybe that is the desired look? The front isn't shown in the book and from the back it looks spot on. But, for comfort, I'd add a little bit of space under the arms.

And that's it. Other than those two issues, I love it.