Knitting and crocheting clothes

What else have I been knitting and crocheting over the past 8 months?  Clothes.  One of the many reasons that I finally taught myself how to knit was that knitting creates really, really nice clothing.  Great, stylish crocheted clothing patterns are rare, at least in my experience.  Nothing I've ever crocheted myself has ever made me very happy.  So, in February, as soon as I got a bit of knitting confidence (created by 6 weeks of knitting afghan blocks and dishcloths), I attempted a short-sleeved cardigan for Sonia:

Haimi Cardigan

It turned out okay, but I had chosen some really cheap yarn, and I wasn't wild about how the front curled in on itself.  But I succeeded in my goal-- knitting something wearable!

I decided then that I needed to try creating some smaller clothing.  Plus, Sonia was sick for over a week, and we needed some sort of excitement.  So, Barbie dresses were next!  I was too nervous to try knitting at first, so I crocheted dress # 1:

Barbie's Crochet Dress

I was so confused as to why the dress was turning out much longer than I thought it should.  I ended it right where the pattern was just getting to the waistline.  After I finished off, I looked closer at the pattern and realized it was written in UK crochet terms.  So, I should have been doing a single crochet stitch, not a double crochet stitch.  Whoops!!  You can't tell in the picture, but in real life, the dress is a bit see-through since I used such a large stitch.  Oh well-- Sonia doesn't care!

Then, I took a deep breath, and attempted a knitted dress. It turned out GREAT!

#0099 Short Pink Dress

Sonia chose the yarn... Can you tell?

Then, my crazy friends, Libby and Sallie, managed to talk me into attempting to do a knit-along with them.  They had been planning for months to knit the Hitofude Cardigan, and it looked crazy-complicated.  Gorgeous, but very intricate.  I had done a tiny bit of lacework so far, but as of May, I was not in the position where I was confident in my lace skills.  But they promised me that we would help each other through the project, so I bought a huge hank of yarn from Miss Babs, took a deep breath, and cast on.

Then I frogged it.  Then I cast on again.  Then I frogged it.  Then I cast on again.  This time, it worked!  Why was the casting on so hard?  Well, it was a special provisional cast where you start with a crocheted chain made out of waste yarn.  Sounds like that would be right up my alley, but it just about killed me.  However, I made it work finaly!  The sweater took me six weeks (and a million conversations with Libby and Sallie) to knit, but I got it done.... and I LOVE IT!!!!

Hitofude

I kind of wish it had turned out a little longer, but I was running out of yarn.

This sweater never fails to turn heads when I wear it, and it's not just because I chose such a shocking pink color!  The pattern is ingenious and perfect.  It is made all in one piece.  NO SEAMING.  I don't mind sewing up seams too much, but it was thrilling to make an entire cardigan with one strand of yarn.  Only two ends to weave in.  (Well, I actually had four because a cat chewed through the yarn at one point, but we'll just pretend that didn't happen.)

I usually never like to make the same pattern twice, but I am itching to make another one....  Longer this time, of course.  Maybe Niki needs one for her birthday next summer.

During the knitting of the Hitofude, I took a short break to crochet myself this cute little top:

Summer Road-Trip Top

Unfortunately, I stupidly chose 100% merino wool for it, and I come close to passing out from heat stroke every time I wear it. I should have used cotton.  Boo. I'm thinking of frogging it and making something else with the gorgeous MadTosh yarn.

By the time I finished my Hitofude, I was convinced that I was a sweater-making GENIUS.  So I promptly knitted three more sweaters.  TO BE CONTINUED.....