My Esja Sweater

And so it is – we have reached the end of 2018, but not before I share one more project with you. 

This morning I finally finished my Esja sweater. 

Isnt it a beauty? This is the Esja Sweater (You can purchase the pattern here), by Tatsiana, of Lillia Bjorn Crochet.  It uses Linen stitch and Brioche crochet and its is just gorgeous. 

The Brioche does initially look a little difficult but actually it couldnt be easier and creates a wonderful squishy fabric. As long as you know how to do double crochets and chains then you know everything you need to know. 

I really would reccomend this pattern – it is really well written and has pages of photographs to help explain some of the more tricky bits. And the good news is that Tatsiana is hoping to create more icelandic style jumpers! I for one, will definately be keeping an eye out in the future.

Have a wonderful new year everyone! 

A New Project, a New Concept and a New Technique

Oooh I may have bitten off more than I can chew here. But I am going to give it my best shot. 

Flash back to the weekend. I was idly scrolling through social media when I come across the most lovely jumper on the Black Sheep Wool page. It looked lovely but also looked Knitted so I almost scrolled past it. My eyes glanced quickly over the text and I was very excited when I read it was crocheted. I showed it to my Fiance and he too thought it was Knit. 

It is the Esja Sweater (You can purchase the pattern here), by Tatsiana, of Lillia Bjorn Crochet. A designer I had heard of but never really exolored. I warn you though, click on the link and you may too be in love! 

 I clicked the link that Black Sheep Wool had put in their post to Tatsiana’s blog and was delighted to see she was running a MAL. I have never participated in a Make Along before, so this was new to me but I think it will be great to keep me on track. The make along started yesterday on Tatsianas social media group and will run weekly for a month. All the details can be found here. 

This pattern also has a new technique for me. I have worked with Linen Stitch and I love it. But i have never done Brioche Crochet before. So this should be a learning curve. 

Down to the yarn. I stuck to the suggested yarn, which is Scheepjes Our Tribe. I chose Silver Birch for the brioche design and The Boy and The Bunting for the body. I cant wait to share this jumper with you and hope to be able to wear it at christmas to impress my family! 

Linen Stitch Cowl

Popping in to share with you this cute cowl that I recently finished.

I used 2 balls of yarn which have been lingering in my stash for almost 5 years! The lighter blue speckly yarn is Sirdar Americana, and the dark blue yarn is Sirdar Rafaella. I believe both of these yarns to be discontinued since they are no longer listed on the Sirdar website.

The pattern is Linen Stitch Cowl by Esther Chandler. You can find it here. 

I love the way there is no need to sew in ends. It is written in such away that the only ends you have to sew in are right at the top and right at the bottom. 

I love the way it looks too, the speckled yarn and solid yarn look lovely together.

I did struggle a little on the dark blue rows as the Rafaella yarn had a funny texture meaning it didnt glide so smoothly as the Americana over the hooks. 

Its very pretty but also quite repetitive – its good if you want mindless crochet but it took me a while to get it finished as it was boring me arter a row or two. I am glad its finished though. 

Therd is a matching Mitten Pattern which I intend to make but I will leave that for a bit. 

Its Done! Yahoooooo!

I have been working on this project since september last year. It kept being put to the side as deadlines for other projects loomed. You have heard me say “I hope to finish by” so many times over the weeks and months since I started, But I can now finally say, ITS DONE! *Does a happy dance*.

My Sunny Granny Jumper is done!

I am very very pleased with it.

I made it up as I went along to my specific (quite chunky) measurements, so I cant provide a pattern. But I can describe how I did it.

The first step was to take measurements. Now I know the photo would suggest I am potato shaped, I am in fact an hour glass so it didnt matter for me wether I used my hip or bust measurements. If you are a pear or triangle then you would take the larger of the 2 measurements (since this is a sort of baggy 80’s style jumper).

I took my chest measurement (116 cm), then halfed it (58 cm). I created two granny squares that were slightly larger than this (62 cm) then stitched them together into a tube using the flat zipper method.

I then kept adding rows to each side of the tube along the top of the granny squares until I had two flaps that were long enough to meet just above my shoulder. Along the top corners I sewed the flaps together to create a vest.

To create the sleeves, I first single crocheted around the arm holes to create a base row, then just continued with straight rounds until the sleeves were just below my elbow. Now I added the trim.

To do this, I simply dropped a hook size and did a couple of rounds around the neckline, cuffs and bottom of the jumper in linen stitch, until I was happy with how it looked.

I really love the colours! So warm and sunny – a stark contrast to the cold snowyness of today!

Its made in Drops Paris amd took almost 200 yards of yarn (almost 25 balls!)