One of them crochets, and one of them knits (derogatory).
So here’s a big spring/summer project that’s done just in time for it to not be spring or summer anymore.
I would also categorize this garment under the banner of pieces I’ve made that are hard to wear during any season. The colors are so vibrant and springy. The pattern inspiration is styled in a way that makes you want to show some skin and sit in the sun. The yarn, however, makes the top kind of uncomfortable to wear if you start sweating and if you layer up with it to wear during colder weather, you no longer get to feel a little slutty. What’s the point of a keyhole top if the hole isn’t showing you anything sneaky.
Despite this, I had a lot of fun with the process and am very happy with the outcome.
I enjoy a project that I can take with me anywhere and keep working on mindlessly. Great for commuting, when I’m changing from bus to train or when I’m packed in so close with a bunch of people that there isn’t space to dig through my bag and reference a pattern. This pattern was great for that.
Thank you to Evvia Gonzales (loupystudio) for this incredible pattern on Instagram. Just a loose description of instructions that might be enough to help you recreate a similar garment. Loved it. Thinking hat time.
I was absolutely in love with the mohair carry in the original and wanted a similar texture in mind. I picked out this gradient mohair skein that I picked up at Rhinebeck in 2022 that faded in between a lime green, teal and a sort of millennial pink. I swatched a few different yarn combos trying to balance practicality and color.
The first was my chosen mohair with a bamboo/cotton blend. Charlotte pulled this out of her stache for me because the pink matched the pink in the mohair so well but it was a bit too thick for the gauge I wanted to work in.
The second was my chosen mohair with a gray Madelinetosh sock weight silk. I liked the feel of the silk and mohair together but the colors weren’t blending as well as I had hoped.
The third was my chosen mohair with a textured white cotton. I thought cotton might be a nice pair for more practical, wearability reasons. Unlike my mom, I love working with cotton. I think the combination of washability and breathability make it so great for garments. However… I didn’t love the look of these textures together and I didn’t have any simpler white cottons.
The fourth was for shits and giggles. I thought for a moment about using only cotton for the practical reasons listed above but half of the fun of this project was supposed to be the mohair and I couldn’t deny myself that. (My bin of mohair is also literally about to explode. I need to start using it.)
The green wool I did chose blended so well with the pink and teal portions of the mohair gradient and of course, brought out more of the best color, the lime green. In the end I was also able to bring back that pink bamboo. It was such a random and perfect color match with the pink that I felt I had to.
I have never played a scarier game of yarn chicken.
I understand that crocheting uses up more yarn than knitting but this pattern had me shaking. You start off by crocheting all of the granny square panels so I felt like I was halfway through my ball of yarn after just the back of the top. Especially after having to talk myself into lengthening the back panel.
In the end I was down to about a yard of mohair.
I did learn how to knit short rows because of this. While watching the instructions, I thought she had just been describing the cap sleeves as short and didn’t know I needed to be sneaking more rows in to get the desired length. My mom actually laughed at me. How neat! Another technique that I would know how to do instinctively while crocheting that needs to be spoon fed to me when I knit.
The moral of the story here is actually not that I made a really cute top with a really neat pattern. It’s that I suck at knitting.
I think I could probably figure out how to crochet a jet engine while half asleep if I really needed to. Maybe one day I’ll remember how to knit 2 together purl side without a Youtube tutorial.
Comments