3 Cardigans For 3 Girls For Christmas

The Christmas gifts continue with these 3 cardigans.

I made these cardigans for three girls. Two of them for my 2 granddaughters, aged 10 & 12, and one for a very tiny 10 year old step-granddaughter (hers is not posted as it is exactly the same as the purple one, only a smaller size, so why post 2 purple cardigans?).

For these cardigans I crocheted the body in one piece in a vertical direction with the Half-Double Crochet stitch. Once I seamed it up then I added the sleeves in a single crochet round.

Lastly, I crocheted a border using the Window Flower Stitch I found on YouTube. I had to figure it all out before starting the border so that it would work in the corners and curves. I am pleased with how it turned out.

I am happy to report that all three girls loved them. One of the girls even wore it despite being hot from the the excitement and 'opening gifts workout' she had. When her Mom suggested she might want to remove her cardigan, she replied - "No I don't want to. It was made by a very special person". Did that ever make me feel good.

Here is the size 12 cardigan in grey.

This 12 year old girl made sure to wear her cardigan to Church the Sunday following Christmas. That made me feel good too.

One thing I wish to note here. With children you need to measure their arm length even after only four months has passed. Not that the sleeves were too short, or to be disappointed in the length of the sleeves, but enough to wish you had added a row or two. Something I learned, anyway.


Happy crocheting!

My First Shrug

Hello Everyone!

Today marks the start of showing things that I have worked on for Christmas gifts! The first item is a first for me. I came across something called a 'shrug' and while it is not something that I would wear out of the comfort of my home, it is something that is easy to make, which means faster. Faster is what I need when I'm pretty much crocheting all of the Christmas gifts this year.

This shrug is made for my 12 year old step-grand-daughter, and is definitely her style.

The pattern called for a much larger hook (7mm) than I thought, but it made the loosely crocheted article so soft!

Here is a closer look at the ribbing.

...and at the Susette stitch which is the large rectangle that starts it all.

In the making of this shrug, I ran out of this gray yarn and ended up using a very dark gray for the sleeves.

I had so much fun making this, that I decided to make one for daughter as well. Hers will be a heather blue and I'll share that you when I have completed it.

Have you made a shrug before?

Well, it's very late, or maybe I should say early, and it's way past time for me to try and get some sleep.

Happy crocheting!

Girl's Spring/Summer Cardigan

My youngest granddaughter just turned 10 this past June. She is quite slim and often finds it to be cooler than she likes. I thought I would make a cardigan that was more for Spring and Summer than a traditional cardigan is so that she wouldn't get too warm. Her favourite colour is purple, so for the season I thought I would go with a lighter colour. I found a very soft yarn from Lion called 'Feels Like Butta". Wow is it ever soft! I loved working with it.

I do have to tell you that I had to unravel this sweater many times. Sometimes nearly the entire thing, and start over. I was following the instructions, but somehow it was much too large! I did say she was very slim, but even using a smaller hook had the cardigan too large. And though the fit is better, I think the neckline is still too large for her.

But you can see for the photo that the pattern called for a double crochet yoke. I changed the bottom stitch from what the pattern indicated because she liked the Arcade Stitch. The sleeves are 3/4 length and the length is a little shorter than a traditional cardigan.

Along with inheriting my Moms stash of yarn, I also inherited a huge sewing basket full of buttons. I found these lovely clear square buttons that I thought would not only look good on the cardigan, but be of interest to my granddaughter. Here is a photo of her opening her gift on her birthday.

I have to apologize  for the blurry image, but she was moving. I will try to get a photo of her wearing it and add it in.

It has been a pleasure to see here wearing it often. I have already started a wonderful winter cardigan for Christmas! Wait till you see it!

Happy crocheting!